


Just friends?

by IvyYara



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Friendship/Love, I will add tags as I go along, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Tension, Smut, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-10-17 22:04:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17568761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyYara/pseuds/IvyYara
Summary: Roger lost hope in finding a bass player for the band, when there is another audition he hopes this will be the one. He finds himself quite taken with him, he just doesn't know why.





	1. Late

**Author's Note:**

> So I have been trying to write this for a while now, but at first nothing came to me, I guess my mind was still on my other story. So I don't know if it's any good. But I really wanted to write another story on this pairing. I don't know yet where this is heading but I hope you all like it. This will have a few chapters but I don't think this will be very long, but hey you never know ;) 
> 
> This doesn't really follow any timeline, in this they are still in college.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think, idea's are also appreciated, I love to chat, it motivates me a lot <3

**Chapter One: Late**

 

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He slammed the door of the music room, out of breath and sweating. His shirt clung to his back. He must have bumped into a dozen people on the way, shouting apologies over his shoulder, almost tripping on the small steps of the stairs, smiling at a few girls he passed, before he reached his destination. He stood there in the middle of the room bent over, hands on his knees, wheezing like he was some granddad.

Three sets of eyes looking at him in surprise, two of those couldn’t be more annoyed with him. Nothing he wasn’t used to, they were annoyed with him multiple times a week. Yet they were still best friends, so he knew when he went too far, or what was still acceptable. Him being late today made him aware that he was now testing how far he could push his friends. He knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“So nice of you to join us Rog!” a voice called that sounded a lot like Brian, he wasn’t sure, the ringing in his ears was still too bloody loud.

Roger didn’t look up, but stayed in the exact same position, putting up one of his hands, to let his friends know he needed a minute, “don’t worry about me,” he said between breaths, his heart was pounding in his chest, looking up and trying to keep the room from spinning.

“I have better things to do, darling.” Freddie said while waving his hands dramatically. “Now that you have graced us with your presence, you can first of all apologize to John, since you are more than fashionably late.”

He looked at Freddie standing there like he owned the room, knowing it would piss Roger off. Roger eyed him with an annoyed look on his face and would have flipped him off if there wasn’t someone else in the room, he didn’t meet yet. He saw a young man, _if you could call him that, he still looked like a boy_ , looking at him with amusement in his eyes and half smile touching his lips, bass guitar strapped over his shoulder. He raised his hand, “hi.”

Roger stepped up to him with an extended hand “hi John, nice to meet you, I’m Roger” he said with a smile. “sorry I’m late, I ehm… overslept…,” he said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

He heard Brian and Fred snort simultaneously, already knowing what he had been up to last night. But he decided to pay them no mind. He looked at John, he kind of had a lanky figure, with brown wavy hair that went a little past his shoulders. He seemed out of place, wearing flared jeans with a simple grey jumper. Not your typical rock star appearance. What caught Roger’s attention though, were his eyes. He had the kindest grey greenish eyes he had seen in a while.

John smiled, but seemed a bit nervous, “o-oh that’s okay.”

Roger tilted his head and smiled back at him. He seemed quiet and reserved. He was the next bass player that was going to audition for them, he didn’t even remember how many auditioned before. They weren’t having much luck with bass players, most of them couldn’t play, others Roger just didn’t like, so he hadn’t been very hopeful anymore. He wondered if John could change his mind.   

Freddie looked at them both and smirked, “don’t let the blue eyes and lovely smile deceive you, John, that’s how he reels people in and never let’s go.”

They both glanced in Freddie’s direction, John laughed, and Roger rolled his eyes at him. “that’s lovely, thanks Fred,” sarcasm apparent in his voice.

Brian sighed, he leaned against the table looking even more annoyed now, “now that we are all acquainted and John has already been fortunate enough to experience one of the many lovely qualities that Roger has to offer, can we get on with it? I do actually have some work to do after this.”

Roger let himself drop in one of the old comfy chairs and put his feet up on the table, lighting a cigarette “I can feel the love, it’s making me all warm inside,” he said sarcastically.

Brian laughed, shaking his head “what did you expect?”

Roger shrugged, blowing out smoke towards the ceiling.

Brian turned his attention at John, who was still looking at Roger. “well John, if you are ready.”

He turned to face Brian, “oh, yeah sure, I’m ready,” and he tuned his bass one last time before starting to play some intricate bass-line.

 

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He had been playing for a while, first a few of their songs, and then some stuff he probably wrote himself. Roger was impressed, he was really good. He seemed to have been playing for a good portion of his life and seemed really talented. Roger found himself entranced looking at his long fingers moving along the snares and the neck of the guitar. His personality seemed good to, as far as one can tell after having exchanged about 2 sentences at most. There was just something about him that had Roger staring at him for longer than he was willing to admit.

Both Freddie and Brian seemed impressed as well. Exchanging looks of excitement, hoping that finally their luck had changed, so that they could play proper shows, that definitely needed a good bass player to complete their line-up. They were managing okay, but there was definitely something missing.

John was still focussed on playing when Freddie spoke up. “That was great!” thanks John.”

He stopped playing and looked at them a little nervously, “eh, thanks.”

“Yes indeed, very good.” Brian added.

They both turned to Roger when he didn’t say anything, he hadn’t heard what his friends had said because he was still staring at John. He didn’t know exactly why, but he was quite taken with the young man. His playing was amazing, but his quiet demeanour made him more interesting, somewhat of a mystery. He couldn’t quite figure out why John would want to join the band, they were definitely not quiet. Well he and Fred mostly, but Brian had his moments as well. They all had big ego’s, he wondered if John would fit in, but on the other hand maybe they needed someone with a level head.

Deep in thought he didn’t notice Brian talking to him and Fred rolling his eyes at him impatiently. He couldn’t really decide what the look on John’s face meant, was it amusement? He didn’t know, he was hard to read.

“Rog, did you hear me?”

Roger snapped out of his thoughts, “what?”

Brian sighed “What is up with you today?”

Roger felt his face heat up, he hoped John didn’t catch him staring at him like a creeper. He glanced at him, but he didn’t seem to have noticed. John was nervously playing with the sleeves of his plain grey jumper.

“ _We_ said that John did a very good job, don’t you think?” he gestured towards John.

He followed Brian’s hands and looked at him, “sorry, yes that was pretty amazing, best I have heard in a while.” He nodded.

John looked up from his hands to look Roger in the eyes, he had a small blush covering his face. “Thanks, so eh… what happens now?”

Brian stood up from the table he was still sitting on, “we will talk about it, and let you know in like three days.”   

John nodded, “okay, I’ll be waiting for your call then.” He went to collect his things and put his bass in his case. He slung his bag over his shoulder.

Roger stood up from his chair to walk over to John before he could turn around and leave the room and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder, “Thanks mate, again I’m sorry I was late.”

He had his hand on the door handle and was about to leave, he looked at Roger with a smile “no problem, hope to hear from you soon.”

“Bye John,” Freddie said with a wave “thanks again.”

John gave a nod and left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Roger with a weird feeling in his stomach, he wasn’t really sure why, but he felt bad about being late and making John wait. He must think he was an idiot and not at all serious about the band. He was still looking at the door when he heard Freddie and Brian talk.

“I thought that was really good, I think he could be the one we are looking for,” Freddie said, excitement in his voice.

Brian didn’t seem to convinced yet, “I agree, his playing is very good but I'm not sure, he seems rather quiet, do you think he would voice his opinions if needed? I mean, I don’t think we need another strong ego in this band, we have plenty of those.”

Roger felt himself get annoyed, he turned around and walked to Brian, “what do you mean you’re not sure? Are you joking?” Roger said annoyance apparent in his voice. “He is the best we have heard in a long time, he would be perfect.” He didn’t really know why he was pleading John’s case so strongly, but he felt like he needed to help him out.

Brian sighed “I know that Rog, but isn’t he a bit to young? He is nineteen.”

“So? what the bloody hell does his age have to do with this?” Roger said.

They heard Freddie laugh, he let himself fall on the couch while looking at Brian “don’t be ridiculous darling, it’s not like he is a toddler, it seems like he has his head screwed on straight, he is good and wants to join, so I think we should give him the chance.” Freddie got his sketchbook and starting sketching, looking up again to add, “besides, no one can be a bigger baby than Roger.” he said with a grin and looking at Roger.

Roger got a pillow from the chair he was sitting in earlier and threw it at Freddie, missing his face by an inch. “ha-ha, very funny!” and went to sit back down in the chair.

Brian got his bag and a collected a set of books under his arms, “well let’s talk about it tonight yeah? I have to get to the library now and finish this paper” he was already at the door. “say 20:30 at the pub?”

“Sure, see you tonight” Freddie answered without looking up from his sketchbook.

Roger slung his legs over the side of the chair, grabbing a magazine, not paying attention but waved to let him know he heard him. He heard Brian close the door.

Freddie started talking still not looking away from what he was doing. “So, are you going to explain why you were so late?” he said with a smirk.

He couldn’t help but grin, Freddie was to curious for his own good. He loved to hear all the gossip, so that he could probably use it against Roger for future purposes. He didn’t mind though, he knew Freddie would never betray his trust if he absolutely needed to keep a secret. Roger loved having a laugh himself and didn’t really care if his friends were taking the piss, he would gladly return the favour.

Roger grinned “do you even need to ask?”

“Not really, but I’m awfully bored,”  

Roger laughed, “well you know, same old, same old, got drunk last night in the pub when you two left, I brought a bird home, forgot to set the alarm, and when I woke up, I knew I was late for the audition, so I tried to get her out quickly, but she didn’t want to leave!”

Freddie started laughing, “serves you right!”

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be my friend?” he said with a smile giving Freddie’s knee a little slap. “This one might bite me in the arse later on though,” he said shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” Freddie said with a tilt of his head eyes peeking over his paper.

Roger knew what he did to the girl wasn’t on, but he couldn’t have been bothered that early in the morning and especially not since he was already late. She was going on about dating and wanting to meet up with him later. He tried to tell her he wasn’t interested in a relationship, but he didn’t know how, trying to not hurt her feelings. Needless to say, not something he was very good at. So, when she went to the bathroom to take a shower, he quickly got his things and couldn’t get out of there fast enough, to still make the audition and left her there without telling her. He hoped she would take the hint.

He cringed thinking about it, Freddie was still waiting for his answer.

“I, eh, I left her alone in my apartment. Without telling her I was leaving. I don’t think girls like that.” He said with an embarrassed look of his face.

Freddie burst out laughing. “If she sees you again, she is going to kill you!”  

Roger shrugged, laughing along with Freddie, he had to admit this wasn’t one of his finest moments. “Just have to make sure she won’t see me again then.”

“Good luck with that.” Freddie said. “On another note, what did you think of John?”

His stomach made a little jump when he heard that name, he didn’t know why, but for some reason the bass player had made an impression on him. He sighed, getting annoyed again “I don’t understand why Brian still wants to talk about it, he is just what we need!”

Freddie seemed to pick up on it, observant as always. He squinted his eyes but didn’t say anything about it. “I agree, but it’s just Brian being Brian dear, he just cares a lot and wants everything to be perfect. let’s humour him for a bit, we’ll talk to him about it tonight.”

He knew Freddie was right, but he was still annoyed “hmm, fine.”

Then Freddie went back to whatever he was scribbling down in his sketchbook, crossing one leg over the other humming a song Roger didn’t know. It made him calm, Freddie’s voice soothing, closing his eyes while softly drumming a beat against his legs, along with Freddie’s humming. He knew he had class in like 15 minutes, but he was reluctant to go. Freddie must have been reading his mind.

“Don’t you have class in a bit?” Freddie said without looking away from his paper.

Roger groaned, “I really don’t want to go.” resting his head on the chair.

When Freddie made no attempt to come up with reasons for not going, he got up from the chair despite his lack of motivation and grabbed his bag and dragged it along with him over the floor towards the door.

“Might as well get some sleep in class then, see ya Fred.”

Freddie was still not looking away from his sketchbook, making him wonder what in the world he was doing. “mhm, see you tonight Darling.”

 

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Roger closed the door behind him and made his way down the stairs and towards his class. He slung his bag around his shoulder properly. While he walked, he found himself thinking about gentle grey-green eyes that looked at him with amusement. When he turned the corner, there were a lot of other students also wandering towards classes or the library or other destinations. He was normally very aware of his surroundings, mainly because being in college was a good way to pick up girls.

Now however girls weren’t on his mind at all. He completely missed several girls looking his way or even calling his name. Lots of them knew he was in a band that frequently played college gigs and pubs in the neighbourhood. He wondered why those eyes stayed with him and why he couldn’t get them out of his head, not even talking about how he practically had been staring at him while he played. He passed several hallways when his thoughts suddenly came to a halt, quite literally.

The wind was knocked out of him, when he had collided with someone on his way. He heard himself making a weird noise between a gasp and grunt. The other made a similar kind of sound. The bag they were holding fell to the ground, contents spilling over the floor.  

“Fuck, I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention” Roger quickly kneeled to help the other picking up their belongings.

The other was already frantically picking up his stuff, “that’s okay, no need to apologise, I wasn’t paying attention myself.”

The male voice sounded familiar to Roger, but he was too busy picking up belongings to place where he heard it before. He got up slightly looking at him, his heart skipped a beat when he saw the gentle eyes staring back up at him, the same ones he had just been thinking about.

“Oh, hi Roger,” John smiled awkwardly a soft blush covering his cheeks.

Roger helped him up, taking one of John's hands to pull him from the ground, John's hand felt warm on his own. Roger handed him his last book when he was up on two feet again.

“Hi,” Roger said feeling really embarrassed, “are you okay? I didn’t hurt you right?”

“No, I’m fine,” he said still smiling clutching his book to his chest, “you?”

Roger grinned, “nah I’m good.”

John seemed relieved, “good, I’d love to chat, but I do have to go, I’m already late for my class, so let’s talk later yeah?”

He was already walking past Roger, before he could come up with a proper response still processing what John had just said. _What did he mean by let’s talk later._ His mind was doing weird things today.

“Eh yeah, later,” he said more to himself rather than to anyone in particular when he continued walking to his class again, looking forward to having a nap.

He didn’t notice John pausing at the door before entering the lecture hall, watching him walk away. 

 

 


	2. Bet on it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger tries to figure out what's going on with him, but also his temper getting the best of him, getting himself into a situation he might want to think twice about. John is also trying to figure Roger out, he's not sure about his intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! thanks to everyone that left lovely comments and leaving kudos, also thanks for reading the first chapter. <3 It means a lot to me, I hope you will like this chapter as well. I had fun writing this, so I love to hear what you think!

 

 

**Chapter Two: Bet on it**

 

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“Mister Deacon, if you are ready, would you be so kind to close the door behind you?”

The voice of the professor startled John out of his daydreaming, he had been watching Roger walk towards his class. Ever since the audition, he wondered about him. When he had been playing, he noticed Roger staring at him, like of course people watch you when you audition, but this was different, he didn’t even notice his bandmates talking to him afterwards, maybe it was just his imagination. But it made him aware of everything he was doing, and he didn’t think that was a positive thing. 

When they bumped into each other in the hallway just now, it made him blush involuntarily when Roger stared at him again, it was like he could see right through him. He didn’t know what it meant, and it was making him nervous. Roger was the complete opposite of him. John was quiet, usually quite shy, he did have his moments if he did say so himself, but mostly he liked to keep to himself or hang out with friends that he had known for a long time.

Roger on the other hand seemed like the loud and not taking anything to serious kind of guy, pretty much going wherever the wind would take him. This was just him going on first glances, and he knew that wasn’t really fair. John knew better than to judge a book by its cover, people could always surprise you when you least expected it. Roger seemed like that kind of person.

He couldn’t let his mind wander off further than that though, because the professor was watching him impatiently, tapping his foot to signal him to hurry up to close the door and take his seat, so he could bore the class with his lecture.

John gave the professor an apologetic look without saying anything. He closed the door and hurried towards his seat in the back where one of his friends saved him one. 

He normally was quite keen to listen to the lecture, but today he was just nervous about the audition. When he started college, he pretty much decided he wasn’t going to pursue music anymore and just keep it as a hobby. But he did take his bass with him just in case, mostly to pass time and when he needed to blow off steam. When he saw the band play a couple of times on different occasions, he had to admit he wasn’t all that impressed, but he couldn’t deny that they did have something about them.

So, when he saw the notice that they were looking for a new bass player, he just decided to audition, since he didn’t have anything to lose. He didn’t think he would be so nervous about hearing back from them. He hated that side of himself, the way he got nervous and anxious quickly. To other people he may look calm and collected all the time, but inside was a whole different story. He wished he could change that about himself and be like, well more like Roger. Maybe that’s why he was so intrigued by him?

He was only half listening to the lecture, he really couldn’t concentrate today, hoping it was over soon, it being the last one of the day, before the weekend. He and his friends had decided to go to the local pub tonight, like they mostly did on a Friday. But he still had to drop off some books at the library and finish some work, that he didn’t want to leave over the weekend.

His friend nudged him, “you are still on for tonight right? He whispered.

John just nodded, not wanting to give professor Smith another reason to tuck him out of class, as much as he wanted it to end, he couldn’t afford to miss any of the information, because of the upcoming exams. He spent the remaining of the class taking notes, but mostly wondering about why Roger had been staring at him, it didn’t make any sense to him. “ _Maybe he did something wrong? Should he ask him about it?... no that would be ridiculous. He probably wasn’t even looking at you, it’s just your imagination.”_ He thought and trying to put his mind at ease.

When the professor signalled the end of the class, he noticed his notepad was still rather empty. He sighed, “ _good job John, now you have to ask for someone else’s notes”_ he thought to himself. He would worry about that later though. He agreed to meet his friends at the pub, after going to the library and finish his assignments. He didn’t think he could keep his mind on it, but he would make an effort anyway.

 

 

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 Roger dropped himself in the booth where Brian was already sitting. He was only fifteen minutes late this time, he was making progress he thought to himself.

“Where’s Fred?” he said while drumming his fingers on the table and stealing one of the chips Brian was eating.

“Oi, I’m eating that,” Brian said while trying to flick his hands away,

“Ouch,” he said while stealing another one and putting it in his mouth “you know friends share.”

Brian rolled his eyes, but looked amused “fine, and Fred is late, obviously.”

Roger laughed to himself, Brian really did have it rough with the two of them. He reminded himself to make more of an effort for his sake. The pub was getting crowded, even though it was still early. But it was a Friday night, so they were lucky to have a seat. Roger had been sleeping through most of his last class, he was ready for the weekend and let of some steam, a certain bass player still wandering through his mind.

He got up to get something to drink, “I’m going to get a beer, do you want something?” he asked Brian.

Brian pointed at his own beer, “I’m good for now, thanks.”

He thought about John, the initial annoyance had subsided, but he still didn’t understand Brian’s reluctance about letting him join the band, it was obvious to him he was the right pick. He walked over towards the bar, a few girls stood there and looked his way, giggling to each other.

“Hi ladies, don’t mind me.” He said with a wink.

Roger was very aware of the effect he had on most girls. He usually didn’t need to try very hard to win them over. That also took the fun out of it at times, because he liked a challenge. It seemed that like these girls weren’t going to give him one tonight.

One of them threw her hair back and batted her eyes at him, she was pretty, he wasn’t blind, but she was trying a little too hard for his liking. “Hi Roger, aren’t you playing tonight?”

“No, not tonight love” he said with a smile signalling the bartender he wanted to order something. “Can I have a beer?”  

The bartender nodded and turned around to get his order.  

The girl was still looking at him, “aww why not?” she said while pouting.

He smiled, “gotta blow of some steam every now and then,” he wasn’t really in the mood for this, but he still humoured her.

She threw him a flirty smile and got much closer to him, “any idea on how you are going to do that?”

“Yeah, I do actually, I plan on getting pissed with my mates,” he said while the bartender handed him his beer and he took a swig, to emphasize his words.

She looked disappointed that he wasn’t willing to play along with her flirting, she was throwing him hints all over, the way she was standing close to him, close enough to touch, he could smell her perfume and her clothing didn’t leave much to the imagination. But he didn’t feel the urge to act on any of it. _What was wrong with him?_

She shrugged, “shame, let me know if you change your mind,” and moved passed him while touching his shoulder, her friends following like a herd of sheep.

He watched them walk away and walked back to Brian and saw Freddie had finally made an appearance. He dropped himself next to him with a sigh, he had a weird feeling, he couldn’t quite place it.

“Hey Fred.”

Freddie looked at him with a confused look “hi darling, something wrong?”

You could always count on Freddie for knowing something was off even when you didn’t even know yourself what was wrong. Normally he would jump on the first opportunity to hit on a girl when the chance presented itself. Now however he didn’t even make the tiniest little move to secure himself a shag tonight.

He didn’t feel like getting into it, so he shrugged it off, “nah, everything is fine.” He avoided Freddie’s gaze, looking at him with suspicion, but he didn’t press him any further.

“Took you long enough though, did the girl you were talking to brush you off?” Brian said with a smirk.

Roger groaned and rested his head on the seat of the booth, “no, she was quite keen, but I wasn’t feeling it, just want to get pissed, so can we get on with why we are actually here?”

Brian and Freddie exchanged looks, thinking he wouldn’t notice. “What? What’s with the looks?” he waved his hand between then. “You think I can’t have a night out with just my mates?”

Brian put his hands up in defence, grinning “I didn’t say anything,”

“it’s just unlike you Rog,” Freddie stated

Roger knew he was right, but at the moment he was just conflicted ever since meeting John today. _But that couldn’t be it right?_ _They hardly had a real conversation. He did say he wanted to talk later, he still didn’t know what he meant by that. And why would that stand in the way of him picking up girls, it’s not like he was into him right? Also, not to mention he was a bloke… a pretty one though, wait…, did he just refer to John as pretty? What the bloody hell was going on with him?_

During his inner turmoil he didn’t notice Freddie and Brian still watching him, waiting for him to burst out into one of his tantrums. He didn’t though, he did however lit a cigarette to try and calm himself down, inhaling deeply. He continued as if his thoughts hadn’t just scared the shit out of him.

“I’ll have you know, I’m perfectly capable of abstinence.” He paused and thought about that for a second and added “for a week, maybe even more.” He was pretty sure he could, he wasn’t as bad as they made him out to be.

He heard Brian snicker, “I won’t hold my breath.” He said sarcastically making Freddie laugh.

He eyed Brian with a look of annoyance, blowing smoke his way knowing it would annoy him .

“Don’t make me laugh darling”, Freddie said with mischief in his eyes. “ _I_ for one, _know_ you can’t do a week without sex or any other sexual contact.”

Roger felt himself get annoyed, and his temper got the better of him. “Fine, I’ll show you I can, I’ll go without any sexual contact for two weeks.” He cringed thinking about it, knowing his own need for intimacy, he was in his early twenties, who could blame him? _He and his big mouth._

Brian laughed, he seemed to be rather enjoying himself. But smart enough to not burn himself by joining the conversation and whatever deal Roger and Freddie were making.

Freddie took a swig of his beer, “are you sure dear, that also means no snogging, blowjobs or any other sexual activity.” He counted on his fingers

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Brian smirking and shaking his head. Roger groaned, he didn’t anticipate that. “Fuck sake, yes fine, be ready to pay up… what do I even get when I prove you wrong?” he said sounding cockier than he actually felt.

Freddie grinned and extended his hand, “I will………” he thought on it for a bit “carry your drumkit and load it in the van after every gig we have, for two weeks.”  

He smiled and shook Freddie’s hand “oh, you’re on!” he knew how much Freddie hated doing any hard work, and he guessed he didn’t think Roger would pull this off or he wouldn’t have suggested it, if it meant for him to work up a sweat.

“What do you get, when Roger fails,” Brian said, looking at Freddie.

“What do you mean, when?!” Roger said throwing his hands up.

Brian laughed, “as if you don’t already know you’re going to lose.

Roger rolled his eyes at him “blow me, May.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll pass,” he said jokingly “oh and I believe that would also be against the rules.”

Freddie burst out laughing, enjoying this far too much. 

Roger just squinted his eyes at Brian, knowing he didn’t have a comeback anymore. Turning to Freddie again. “But yeah, what do you get, _if_ I mess up?

“Oh, seeing you suffer and trying to make this work, is already reward enough darling.” Freddie said with a smirk.

“Lovely.” Roger said pressing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“Brilliant, now that we covered the important stuff, like Roger’s sex life, can we now move on and talk about what we actually came here for?” Brian asked voice dripping with sarcasm.

Roger took another sip of his beer, “okay, but I already told you what I think.” It made him nervous talking about John again. He kind of hoped John would be here tonight, but he didn’t see any sight of him, he didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he was disappointed. He didn’t even know if John frequently went to pubs. He looked around one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed him.     

“What are you looking at?” Brian asked him following his gaze.

“Nothing," quickly turning around and taking a sip of his beer, “so, have you thought about it?” changing the topic again.

Brian looked at both of them, “well you guys seem certain enough, I don’t really have a reason to doubt him, maybe he just needs some time to open up, and he is a good bass player.”

Freddie smiled, “he is, I agree with Rog on this, and like you said, he’ll warm up to us, it just takes time, but I don’t think we will find anyone better then him.”

Roger was relieved hearing Brian was on board with John joining the band. At the same time, it made him extremely nervous, because he obviously had some sort of effect on him. Would he even be able to hit the drums right, if John was in the same room with him, and making himself look like an idiot. He would worry about that later.

“So that’s settled then, John joins the band?” he asked.

“I’m all for it,” Freddie replied.

Brian nodded, “yes, we’ll have to let him know.”

Roger was already out of his seat “Great! time to celebrate, I’ll get us some more beer and shots!” and proceeded to make his way through the crowd.

   

 

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When John entered the pub, it was already way too crowded for him to see over the seas of people. He was ready for some time off, he had been studying in the library a lot longer than he had anticipated, and got some food on the way home, which was ridiculously overpriced, and not even worth it if he was honest. The music was playing loudly, and the pub was dark, so he didn’t recognize anyone immediately.

His friends were already here somewhere, he hated being alone in these places. It made him nervous, because he wasn’t very good in these situations. He much rather be sitting in one of the booths talking with someone. But they were already occupied, they usually filled up early. So, he made his way to the bar, that was a bit higher up, hoping he could spot his friends that way and order a drink at the same time.

He signalled the bartender, “one beer please.”

The bartender eyes him suspiciously. He usually got this response when he was at a pub or a club. He guessed he did look a little young.

“I have ID on me, if you want to see? He said feeling his face heating up, happy that it was so dark in the pub.

The bartender didn’t ask for the ID and got him his beer and handed it to him. He turned around and leaned against the bar, still not being able to spot his friends. They were probably too busy trying to hit on girls. John didn’t consider himself very good with girls, he was way too aware of himself whenever he talked to a girl. Situations like that turned him into a stuttering mess, and he didn’t think girls were interested in him. He hadn’t had a girlfriend for a while now but he also wasn’t really looking for one if he was being honest with himself.   

He tried to stand on his tiptoes to look around and see if he saw a familiar face. He saw one of his friends, he was indeed talking to a girl, he didn’t think he needed his company. The others were still nowhere in sight. He also didn’t feel like looking for them, he considered leaving, but that would mean sitting alone in his apartment all night, without roommates. He didn’t feel like spending his Friday night like that. Before he could decide what to do, someone pushed beside him at the now very crowded bar. The familiar voice made him turn his head.

“Can I have three beers and three vodka shots?”

Roger was standing next to him, he didn’t notice John looking at him. John smiled, he looked so carefree, his hair was looking wilder than usual, blue eyes shining brightly, he seemed happy about something. He wondered if he should talk to him. He had spent the remainder of the day thinking about him, wondering why he had been staring at him, he was doing the same thing now. _He could just talk to him, right? They knew each other, it would be weird if he didn’t say anything now and he would notice him looking at him._ He smiled to himself, feeling somewhat confident.

He turned around to face him, still leaning against the bar “looks like we meet again.”

Roger seemed startled, because he froze before he looked John in the eyes.

“Oh, hey John,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

John tilted his head, it seemed like Roger was nervous, he hadn’t seen him like this before. “something on your conscience? John asked with a grin.

Roger laughed, “no, just didn’t expect to see you here is all, it’s good that I run into you though, because now I can tell you in person,” giving John’s shoulder a little pat and leaving it there for a bit.

He followed Roger’s hand where it was resting at his shoulder. He felt himself getting bolder, maybe it was the alcohol? “hmm, sounds serious, are there love confessions involved?” he grinned at him taking another sip of his beer.  

He couldn’t help but laugh at Roger’s reaction, he stared at him with wide eyes, and then blinked a few times before getting himself together. He seemed to get back to his usual self.

He smirked and met his eyes “aren’t you cheeky?

“I’m just messing with you,” giving his arm a gentle shove, “what did you want to tell me?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe I need a little convincing now?” Roger said with a playful smile.

John rolled his eyes, still amused, “I’d offer you a drink, but it seems you are already covered,” he said nudging his head towards the tray the bartender had just put down on the bar with his order.

Roger looked at his drinks and back at John, he seemed to think for a minute, because a frown appeared on his face as if he was contemplating if he should say what he was about to say.

He started playing with the hem of his t-shirt avoiding his eyes. “Maybe you can buy me drink another time? to ehm, to get to know each other?”

John felt his heart skip a beat, he thought about Roger’s words. He had been wanting to get know him better, because he was intrigued by him, _or was it more?_ _He even suggested today that they’d have a talk. Making new friends was never a bad thing, but why was Roger acting as nervous as he felt. This wasn’t a big deal, right?_

He decided it wasn’t “oh, yeah sure,” he said with a smile.

Roger looked at him with relief, a smile tugging at his lips, seemingly having found his confidence again “tomorrow night? I can pick you up if you like, we can grab something to eat here?”

John nodded, “sounds like a plan.”

“Great, see ya tomorrow then” Roger said smiling, taking his tray with drinks and walking away, to where John assumed Freddie and Brian were waiting for him, before turning around and adding. “oh yeah what I was going to tell you, you can have the job in the band, if you still want it.”

John smiled “thanks! I’ll take it,” he called after him, because he was already walking away.

“Good, because we need you.” He called over his shoulder, and then disappeared in the crowd.

John couldn’t help but smile, this was not what he had been expecting when he stepped into the pub tonight. Realising he was going to be alone with Roger tomorrow made him more nervous than he was willing to admit to himself. He probably needed a few drinks to make it through the night. He looked at the crowd again, finally spotting his friends standing there in the corner, making his way over to them. Worrying about tomorrow could wait.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3 
> 
> Please note that English isnt my first language, so mistakes might pop up somewhere.


	3. No Regrets?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger and John get ready for their meet up, Roger has second thoughts about the bet he made with Freddie. John wonders about his own feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry this took me so long to update! But I hope I can make it up to you with this chapter! Thanks everyone that left comments and kudos again <3 they make me happy and motivated me alot! 
> 
> Special thanks to chaosdarlingchaos for giving me a few lovely ideas for this chapter and keeping up with my ramblings! <3
> 
> I also left a little something for a certain someone in this chapter, im sure you know who you are :) 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Again let me know what you think! <3

 

 **Chapter Three: No Regrets?**  

 

Roger woke up the next morning, or rather past lunchtime with a throbbing headache. He really shouldn’t have gotten that last round of shots last night. He groaned, turning on his stomach to plant his face in his pillow, for dramatic effect. He couldn’t believe he had asked John to have a drink with him today. He hadn’t noticed him standing there next to him at the bar, but when he heard his voice, he completely froze for a second. It wasn’t anything like him, he was normally very good in social situations. But the moment their eyes met, he could feel his legs tremble and his heart beating unnaturally fast. There was no denying it anymore, he was completely falling for him.

The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks, he was falling for a man. He turned around again to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. His mind was working overtime. _When did this happen? He liked girls and he was known for it! He certainly shagged them enough!_

He didn’t know what to do with this situation, what was he going to tell John? What he even going to tell him anything. He probably wasn’t even into guys. Hell, _he_ didn’t know hewas into guys before he met John. Not to mention that he was now in the same band. Why did he have such an effect on him? Even thinking about him made him smile. The way his eyes closed slightly when he smiled. The gentle eyes he couldn’t get out his mind. The soft blush that covered his cheeks when he felt awkward. How he seemed shy but at certain times he wasn’t. He could have sworn John was being a bit flirty last night, but that could also be Roger's own mind telling him he was.

He sighed, rubbing his face and turning on his side to look at the time, it was almost 13:00. He really needed to take a shower and not look like he just drank a whole pub dry by himself. Thinking about tonight made him all kinds of nervous, he needed to put his mind at ease. He didn’t want to be a blabbering mess when he had to pick up John. _Pull yourself together, you are just going for a drink and something to eat, it’s no big deal. You are good at these things._

Then something hit him, he didn’t really know where John lived…. _t_ _hat’s just brilliant, he really was an idiot._ He knew John shared an apartment with some friends, but not sure which building. Maybe Brian knew, he met him before he auditioned for them. He could call Brian, to ask him, but what would he say. Knowing Brian, he would want to know why he didn’t invite him and Freddie. He really hoped he wouldn’t bring that up, he really wanted to be alone with John. _Well just act normal and he won’t think anything of it. Just bandmates getting something to eat._

He got up to get the phone in the living, looking at his one bedroom apartment thinking it could use a bit of cleaning. He would worry about that later. He dialled Brian’s number, it took a while before he answered. He was about to hang up when he heard a familiar voice, but it wasn’t Brian’s. “Brian May’s place, he isn’t able to come to the phone right now, can I leave a message?” the voice said.

He furrowed his brow, “Fred?” Roger said sounding confused. “Is that you?”

“Rog?” he heard Freddie say.

“Yes, it’s me, why are you at Bri’s, did we agree to meet up today?” He asked, wondering how much he actually had to drink last night, he was pretty sure he knew everything that happened.

“Oh no darling, we didn’t, I eh… I crashed here last night, I got a little carried away on those drinks." He laughed.

That didn’t sound all that weird, Roger thought, he crashed at Brian’s so many times before. But Freddie sounded a bit embarrassed for some reason, he didn’t know why that was though.

He then heard talking on the other side of the line, “wait, I’m on the phone,” he heard Freddie say.

“Yes, my phone," he heard Brian say.

Freddie whispered, but he was still able to hear it. “it’s Rog.”

He then heard the phone being pulled from Freddie, and Brian answered his voice sounding a bit frantic “Rog?!” he practically shouted.

He pulled the phone away from his ear, “god! Yes, I’m not deaf you know?” he said slightly annoyed, “also why is Freddie picking up your phone?”

“I was in the shower, and he crashed here.” His voice returned to the calm and soft spoken Brian he knew. “Why did you call though?”

Roger still thought something was of, but he didn’t press any further, he frankly couldn’t really care, he was way too nervous about asking Brian for John’s address. He took a big breath, wondering how Brian would react.

His heart started beating a bit faster “I-I was supposed to meet with John today, but I don’t have his address, do you have it?”

The line was silent for a bit, but then he heard Brian moving on the other side. “Yes, I have it here somewhere, why are you two meeting up?”

“Eh I saw him at the pub yesterday, but it was too busy and loud to really talk to him, so we agreed to meet up so I could tell him the news.” It was only a partial lie he thought, it really had been loud and busy, the other stuff he conveniently left out.

“Oh okay, does seems more personal than over the phone,” Brian said, giving him the address and the directions on how to get there.  

Roger let out a deep breath he didn’t know he had been holding, feeling the tension leave his body. “Thanks, Bri, see ya later.” He said quickly, eager to hang up the phone.

“No problem, see you.” Brian said and hung up the phone.

“That wasn’t so hard,” he said pretty pleased with himself, walking towards the bathroom to take a shower. When he got ready and sorted, he felt a bit better and not as nervous anymore. He would just hang out with John and try to get to know him better.

The one thing that was still bothering him, was the bet he made with Freddie. Why did he have to be so stubborn and have the worst temper ever. He was too fucking proud to let Freddie win this, but he also knew he couldn’t go two weeks without at least some sort of contact, be it only a kiss, he had needs! But he also wanted to see Freddie load in his drumkit for two weeks. He would let Brian take pictures of it so he could remember it forever.  

It wasn’t like he expected he would have the opportunity to do anything about his feelings for John, but somewhere he still had a sliver of hope that maybe he liked him too? It was a long shot, but he knew the effect he had on women and if he was being honest also on a lot of guys. So, maybe he had the same effect on John? But if there was any chance with John, would he take it?

Freddie said he didn’t need anything from him, if he messed up the bet, seeing him suffer was enough. _Nice Fred, very nice._ It would be easy to just give in if the opportunity arose, but that was just what Freddie wanted him to do. He probably wouldn’t even get a chance with John, thinking about it, made him realise how bad he wanted something to happen. For now, he decided he wouldn’t just give in, even if the temptation was to great.  

 

 

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John was restless, he had changed multiple times now. He had tried to read a book, listen to music and even took two showers. He was now pacing up and down his small bedroom, getting from one side to the other took about 5 steps, if you took small ones. He peaked out of his window again, to check if he maybe saw blond hair making his way over to his building.

He didn’t see anything, he sighed, he didn’t know why he was so nervous, he was just going to hang out with his band mate, but was it a normal get together with a friend? He still thought Roger had been acting weird last night. He kept acting nervous around him, he even seemed a little flirty. He pushed that thought out of his mind immediately, it made no sense, why would Roger flirt with him? He only liked girls.

He gazed at the clock, it was now almost 19:00, Roger was supposed to be picking him up. But he didn’t know how late, because they didn’t specify the time, he didn’t think Roger even knew where he lived. This whole situation could be very awkward, he had to figure out why Roger was acting like this ever since he met him.

He still contemplated on asking him but didn’t know how he would go about it. He didn’t have time to think about it any longer because the doorbell rang. He felt his stomach drop but made his way over to the door anyway.

When he opened the door, Roger was looking back at him, half smile on his face leaning against the wall. He looked cold, his face a bit red from the freezing cold outside. He had a big coat on with a striped scarf wrapped around his neck. He could understand what girls saw in him, just his whole attitude made him interesting, not even mentioning his obviously good looks. He couldn’t even imagine how many girls he must have had. Seeing him standing there reminded him of how different they were.

“Hi there,” Roger said with a smile, pulling himself away from the wall. “You ready to go?”

John smiled at him, “yes,” he said while taking his coat and putting it on.

They made their way to the pub, it wasn’t that far away from John’s apartment. They just had to the walk across the street and through the park that separated the apartment buildings from the city. While they walked, he could feel Roger’s gaze on him, he couldn’t figure him out and it was driving him crazy. He felt himself get even more nervous. He usually was pretty perceptive, but with Roger he came up empty.

It was freezing cold outside, so he buried his face down his coat a little further. They didn’t talk much, and the silence was not good for his nerves. When he couldn’t take it anymore, John asked the first thing that came to mind. “So, did you get lucky last night?” it was out before he knew it and he could hit himself in the head.

He heard Roger laugh, “no, I was too pissed, apparently that’s not very attractive” He looked at him with a smile.

For some reason John was relieved to hear him say that, he had heard about Roger’s reputation with girls, and his nightly activities. He didn’t know why he felt relieved.

John snickered, “so they say.”

“What about you?” Roger asked, smile still on his face.

John chuckled, “oh yes, definitely!”

If John didn’t know any better he would have said that Roger looked a little disappointed.

John continued, “one of my friends got absolutely pissed, and fell asleep in a corner of the pub and when we wanted to go home, he couldn’t walk by himself anymore, so I had to drag him along to our apartment, and the whole way back he kept calling me Sarah.”

Roger burst out laughing, John couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“Luck was definitely on my side last night.” John explained. 

By then they had reached the pub, Roger opened the door for him, grin on his face. “well after you Sarah.”

John squinted his eyes at him, “I shouldn’t have told you that.” He entered the pub walking past him and finding an empty booth in the back of the pub. He felt himself get a little less nervous being alone with Roger.

The waitress came to their booth to get their order. They both ordered a fish and chips and a beer. While they waited for their food and drinks to arrive, they spent some time talking, mostly small talk. They talked about college and what they both were studying, what sort of music they loved, how they got into playing music, how they liked living on their own and about their families and friends. John told Roger he was excited to be joining the band, but also quite nervous for when they would be playing their first gig.

He noticed that talking to Roger was very easy, despite being loud and rarely serious, he was good at listening and serious when he needed to be. He listened to everything John said, and didn’t interrupt him, only if he wanted to know more about the topic they were talking about. The night had gone by pretty fast, and the pub was now very busy,and it was already getting late. They had been talking forever, but he also found Roger staring at him again and it made him very aware of what he was doing or saying, he felt his skin getting warmer by the minute. He wasn’t sure if that was because it was hot in the pub, because of all the drinks they had been drinking or the blue eyes that were constantly gazing at him.

They had been drinking quite a lot, Roger a little more them him, and because of all the alcohol Roger seemed even more open than usual, _was that even possible?_  He would even say that he was being flirty again. John himself could feel himself being less self-conscious, but he was not drunk enough to ask Roger about his strange behaviour. The next thing that came out of Roger’s mouth though, he didn’t expect at all.

Roger took a sip of his beer and was looking at him, his eyes shining bright, “has anyone ever told you, that you have the kindest eyes?” It was obvious Roger was more than a little tipsy, but he was still able to speak normally, be it a little more slurred than usual.

“What?” John asked, looking at Roger with disbelief.

Roger folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them, still looking at John. “Your eyes, I can’t seem to get them out of my mind, it’s weird, don’t you think?”

John was utterly confused with this turn of events, was Roger serious or was he just taking the piss? he didn’t know to respond to that. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about what else Roger was going to say. So, he decided to play along.   

“Uhm, I don’t know, is it?” 

Roger lifted his head and shifted a little, so he was closer to John, he seemed to think on what John just asked him, he laid his hand on John’s hand where it was resting on the table. He nodded “I think it is, it’s confusing really.”

John shivered when he felt Rogers hand on his, he looked at him feeling his cheeks heat up. Roger watched him with a soft expression on his face, he was really curious about where this was leading too, Roger seemed to be finally telling him what was on his mind.

He had trouble forming words “w-what’s confusing?”

Roger sighed and shook his head, pulling his hand away and started to play with the sleeves of his shirt. “I-I don’t think I should say, you will think it’s weird.”

“Well you won’t know that until you tell me, now do you?” John said with a smile, taking a large sip of his beer, trying to calm himself down.

Roger looked up at him again. He took a deep breath before talking “It’s confusing, because I have been thinking about you a lot, ever since I met you, and I think I’m going mad because I think you are really attractive.”    

John started coughing, nearly choking on his drink, putting his hand in front of his mouth. He didn’t believe what he had just heard, he was afraid to look at Roger and he could feel himself blushing like crazy. Roger was probably just saying all this because he was drunk.

Roger got out of his side of the booth and went to sit next to John to pat him on the back, “are you okay?” Roger asked him with a concerned look on his face.

He tried to catch his breath, “yes, sorry, I’m fine,” still coughing a little. He could feel Roger’s hand move down to rest at the small of his back, before taking it back and resting it on his own lap.

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” he said with a sad expression on his face.

John didn’t know what to say, Roger just said that he found him attractive. But that couldn’t be right, he was just really drunk right? But why did he look so sad. He would be lying to himself if he said that he wasn’t interested in Roger and he was obviously good looking, but he was also a man. John never considered his sexuality, because he had always been interested in girls, and he definitely didn’t think Roger would be into guys, let alone him.

Roger stood up suddenly. “I think I should go.”

John snapped out of his train of thought and grabbed Roger’s wrist without really thinking about it. “no! wait Roger.”

Roger looked at his own wrist where John was holding it. “Why? I just messed up everything.”

“Who says you messed up anything? I haven’t said anything yet, and you can’t just leave me here?!” John said tugging at Roger’s wrist to let him sit down again.

He succeeded because Roger let himself be dragged down into the booth again, turning his head to face him. John felt himself start to blush again, now being so close to Roger, he didn’t think beyond this point. He turned his face away from him, “you better not be messing with me.”

Roger smiled at that and taking his beer again and drinking it in one go. “Trust me, I’m really not.”

They were silent for a bit, John tried to process what just happened and what he was going to do with this information. Next to him Roger was drumming his fingers on the table nervously.

“It’s your fault you know?” Roger said with a smirk.

John laughed, “is that right?”

Roger smiled at him, “yes, you and your pretty eyes!”

John rolled his eyes, Roger was obviously getting too drunk now. “Okay I think we should go, now that you can still walk.” He left some money on the table, and nudged Roger to get out of the seat.

“Come on, let’s go.” He said while pulling Roger with him.

“Where are we going?” Roger grinned.   

“Home,” John said while getting passed all the people in the pub towards the exit.

“Are you trying to get into my trousers? Roger said with a smirk, “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

John laughed while shaking his head, walking outside into the freezing cold. His breath was making clouds in the air, he didn’t mind the cold, happy he could cool down, blushing at Roger’s comment. _What was going on with him?_

They started walking towards the park, to get to John’s building. The park was softly lit by a few street lights, lighting up the path towards the apartment buildings. Roger walked impossibly close to him, he seemed more drunk now that they were walking, their arms touching the whole way. He swayed a little and John tried his best to not let him fall face down in one of the shrubs that were all over the park.

When they reached John’s building, he worried about Roger getting to his own apartment safely, he was in no state to walk back all those blocks. He contemplated on what to do, keeping in mind what Roger had said to him in his drunken state, he still didn’t know if he should believe him. Would Roger think it would be weird if John let him crash at his place, what alternative did he have? He wasn’t going to let him stagger out on the streets. Knowing Roger anything could happen. He could already see it the morning paper, _Young man found sleeping in dumpster!._

John looked at Roger who was leaning against the wall, as if he was hugging it. He chuckled, he was such a handful, but for some reason he didn’t care about that at all. He tugged on Roger’s arm, to try and pull him with him. He was already half asleep.

“Come on, Rog, let’s get you somewhere more comfortable, yeah?” he said softly.

Roger mumbled something under his breath, looking at him with sleepy eyes, “nah ‘s okay, I’m fine, I can still walk,” he said while he turned around and wanted to start walking into the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go.

John sighed irritably, “you are not walking back all those blocks, you are crashing at my place whether you like it or not.” He said giving Roger no room to argue.

He looked at him with an amused look on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. “So bossy! where is Deaky? And what did you do with him?”

John couldn’t help but laugh, taking Roger’s arm and supporting him up the flight of stairs towards his apartment, he felt Roger leaning against him. He tried to fish his key out of his pocket as best as he could while he felt Roger breathing on his neck.

He froze when he heard Roger whisper in his ear. “I like it though, you ordering me around, it’s sexy.”

John blushed heavily, avoiding Roger’s gaze, still fumbling with the key to open the door. “I think it’s time for you to sleep.” He said eventually when he was over the initial shock, and he was finally able to open the door, he pushed Roger inside.   

Roger grinned, “you’re no fun,” he said as he stumbled inside.

“I thought I was sexy?” he heard himself say before he could stop himself. He turned around to close the door and cringed at his own comment, reminding himself how crazy this night had become.

He gasped when he turned around, Roger was now standing very close. He backed up a bit, realising he couldn’t go further, his back softly hitting the door. Roger looked a lot soberer now all of a sudden, was he actually drunk, or did he just act like it?

Roger put his hand on the door, next to John's head. He looked at him, his eyes dark. He leaned in a little, “now you’re just teasing," Roger said in a low voice. His other hand made its way to John’s neck softly caressing his skin and moving up to let it rest at his jaw and softly rubbing John's bottom lip with his thumb, watching him intently.

John’s breath hitched, his mouth open slightly, his heart beating unnaturally fast and his brain was working overtime, trying to comprehend what was happening. He shivered under Roger's touch.  _Why was he not stopping him?... Did he want him to stop?... He didn’t know anymore, his mind was not cooperating._

Roger bit his own bottom lip, and sighed, moving his hand away from John’s face, he was mumbling something under his breath, “ _fucking bet_ ” which John couldn’t quite make out.

John stared at him with a confused look on his face, trying to catch his breath. “What?”

“Sorry, it's nothing.” He moved away from John, giving him with an awkward smile. “Maybe I do need some sleep?”

John could feel his breathing and heartbeat slow down again, he felt like he needed a cold shower. He sighed “I think we both do,” putting what had just happened out of his head for now.

He walked towards his room, Roger following him “you can sleep in my room if you want, I can just use the sofa.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll crash on the sofa.” Roger answered.

He opened the door to his room, “uhm, you could wear one of my shirts and sweatpants, seems much more comfortable than what you are wearing now” looking at the tight jeans Roger was wearing.

Roger looked at himself, agreeing with John “yeah thanks, that would be great.”

John nodded and opened his closet, finding a shirt and throwing it towards Roger, who wasn’t paying attention, because he was looking around John’s room. His eyes scanning all the posters from various bands that plastered the walls, before the shirt obscured his vision.

“Oops, sorry,” John said with a chuckle, handing him the sweatpants he fished out of his closet.

Roger seemed amused, “you’re so not sorry.”

John stuck out his tongue at him, and got a spare pillow and duvet for Roger, so he could at least be warm on the uncomfortable sofa.

When he turned around Roger was changing into his sleep clothes, his torso still bare. He blushed at the sight, clearing his throat he said, “I- I eh really can take the sofa, it’s no bother.”

Roger smirked not missing John’s blush but not saying anything, he walked towards the living room and dropped down on the sofa, “it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” taking the pillow and duvet John handed him.

John stood there for a couple of seconds, twiddling his fingers, not sure what to do now. “okay well if you need anything, let me know. I’ll be right over eh… there,” pointing at his room. “the bathroom is right down the hall.”

Roger chuckled, “okay Deaky, I think I’ll manage, see you tomorrow.”

John nodded and walked towards his room, ready to get to bed and sleep. It was already one in the morning.

“John?”

John paused and turned around to look at Roger, with questioning eyes. “Yes?”

He found Roger watching him with a soft smile on his face. “Thank you.”

He smiled back at him, “no worries, good night.”

“Night.”

When he finally slipped in bed, he was exhausted. When his head touched the pillow, he was almost asleep immediately, one thought still crossed his mind in his sleepy state. Was it just him or was Roger going to kiss him? With that last thought wandering through his mind he drifted off to sleep.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! <3 I like reading your comments. 
> 
> Please note that English isnt my first language, so mistakes might pop up somewhere. 
> 
> Also I started using tumblr again. If you have any questions or want to chat, feel free to contact me <3
> 
> http://ivyyara.tumblr.com/


	4. No regrets, for real this time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger opens up about his feelings, for real this time. John finds out about the bet, and makes up his own plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you again for the support on this story, everyone that left kudos and comments, I appreciate it very much. <3 I know I said I didn't expect this to be very long, but here we are at chapter 4 already. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, and let me know what you think. 
> 
> Special thanks again to chaosdarlingchaos for being such a sweetheart and for giving me inspiration when I need it.

 

**Chapter 4: No regrets, for real this time**

 

 

Roger didn’t sleep very well that night. At first he fell asleep almost instantly but woke up early in the morning. When he woke up, he couldn’t figure out where he was, but then he remembered he was at John’s apartment and everything came back to him. He could hit himself in the head, he pretty much said everything he shouldn’t have last night, add that to his weird behaviour around John. He wasn’t stupid, he could obviously put two and two together. Was it too late to blame it on the alcohol? 

Thankfully his head had been clear enough to stop himself when he almost leaned in to kiss John. He had been so so tempted, and what made it even harder was that John didn’t stop him. It was driving him insane, because if he wasn’t interested in Roger at all, he was sure he would have stopped him right there and then.

But he didn’t, he even felt like John was teasing him a little. He was too afraid to ask John about it. How would he react? He really didn’t want to ruin their friendship that was just starting to _be_ a friendship. But Roger really liked him and couldn’t help but think that John maybe liked him a bit as well. But he didn’t know how he could figure that out.

This bet was getting in his way and it only had been a day. On the first day he had almost blown it already. But doing something you weren’t supposed to, made it all the more exciting.It would be so easy to just kiss John and find out that way.  _Why did he agree to it again?_ It wasn’t like he had that much to lose, but he didn’t want to give Freddie the satisfaction of not even being able to keep it together for one day. He would never hear the end of it.  

The other thing that was on his mind that was bugging him was how he was going to tell his friends that he liked a guy. Not to mention their new band mate. Should he even tell them? With all of these things wandering through his mind he dozed off again, to waking up to someone nudging him softly.

He groaned “want to sleep,” and turned around, forgetting he was on John’s sofa and almost dropping face down on the carpet.

He heard John let out a laugh, “good morning,” putting a cup of tea in front of him on the coffee table.

He went to sit against the arm of the sofa looking up at John, he was already dressed, and his hair was slightly wet, he could smell his shampoo when he went to sit next to him with his own cup of tea.

“Morning.” He said, he felt on edge, knowing what he had said last night, he felt like he needed to address it, but how? He played with the sleeves of John’s shirt he was wearing. His heart was beating fast, and he felt sort of queasy “Uhm, John? About last night.”

John waited for him to continue, taking a sip of his tea.

“I… well, you might be wondering why I acted the way I did? He said, afraid to look him in the eyes for too long.

“Don’t worry about it Roger, you were drunk.” He said with a smile. “we all say things when we’re drunk.”

Roger was silent for a minute, thinking about what John just said. It would be easy to just let it go now, but he didn’t want to. It was driving him mad, he needed to let him know, or at least let him know something. Why was he so understanding?

He sighed, deliberating how he would he should continue “yes and no,” hesitating before saying, “yes I was drunk, and no I wasn’t drunk enough to not know what I was doing or saying.” He said avoiding John’s eyes.

John tilted his head, “what do you mean?”

Roger groaned, “like I know what I said last night, and more importantly what I tried to do.”

“Aha,” John said, nodding his head.

Roger looked at him, trying to figure him out. He was so hard to read. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t” he said in a quiet voice turning towards Roger. “I was just uhm… surprised?”

Roger looked at him with disbelief, “surprised?”

“Yes, well you know.” John said a small blush covering his face.

Roger grinned, he probably knew what he meant, but he liked teasing a bit, “enlighten me.”

John squinted his eyes at him and signalled with his hands, “well I don’t exactly fall into the category you usually go for.”

Roger smiled, “really? I hadn’t noticed.” He said teasingly, giving his arm a gentle push.

He could practically see John think about this piece of information, biting on his lip absentmindedly, taking a sip of his tea.

Roger put his hand on his knee, “John? You okay?” watching him with worry in his eyes, “I know you probably aren’t even into guys, bloody hell I didn’t even know I was until I met you, it’s not like I ever liked another guy before.”  

His heart was beating fast, he finally said the words out loud, he liked John, not just as a potential friend, but more than that. He tried to explain but it seemed like to come out all wrong, not how he wanted this to go. John just looked at Roger’s hand where it was resting on his knee.

“You like me?” he asked as if he spelled it out for himself considering every word, trying to make sense what Roger just told him.

Roger smiled, “you sound surprised? I mean I thought I was being pretty obvious last night.”

John lifted his head and chuckled, “It’s just, I don’t know, it’s not something I expected I guess?”

Roger smiled sadly, “I just want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you, it’s fine if you don’t feel the same, I’ll get over it, and we can just continue to be friends.” He said, hearing himself say that, hurt him a little.

John took a deep breath, “what if I don’t want you to get over it? He didn’t look Roger in the eyes but stared intently at his hands as if it was the first time, he’d seen them.

Roger didn’t think he heard right, his mind was probably playing tricks on him again. “what?” he stared at John with wide eyes.

John hesitantly looked him in the eyes, “I don’t think I want you to get over it.”

His mouth fell open slightly, a lot of things went through his mind, he felt relieved but also nervous. He didn’t know what to do, what did John mean. He didn't really know what to say, but after a few seconds he asked. “you don’t?” sounding hopeful.

“No, if that’s okay with you?”

Roger stared at John, grin on his face “I can live with that.” Giving his leg a soft squeeze.

John stood up and stretched his arms above his head, he had mischievous look on his face, “you better not think I’ll be putting out after the first date.”

Roger laughed, resting his head on the back of the sofa. It seemed like this bet was getting even more difficult than he had anticipated, maybe he should talk to Fred about it. But how?

 

 

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It had been almost a week since he and John had their ‘date’, they had been very busy with college and didn’t see each other after that. John was very focused on his studies, and that also meant he spent a lot of time on his school work, and actually went to every class. Roger on the other hand just wanted to make music and nothing was more important than that. He tried to find John in the hall ways, but it seemed like they missed each other every time.

Roger wasn’t willing to admit he had been looking for him in places he usually went to, or even walked the extra block to maybe run into him. It didn’t look like luck was on his side, it made him all the more anxious that he was in fact going to see him tonight, for their first practise with the band. Their talk hadn’t really eased his mind, he was still very aware of the effect John had on him, and how he seemed to turn into blabbering idiot whenever he saw John.

Roger really didn’t want Freddie and Brian to notice he had a thing for John but knowing Freddie he would definitely notice something was up. He knew him too well, and he had a sixth sense when it came to things like this. Roger just wasn’t ready to tell them yet, just coming to terms with his new discovery.

He did however want to talk about this bet, it was driving him mad. Even if John didn’t want him to get over his feelings, he couldn’t do anything about it now, it was hard to not give into his temptation to touch him, even if it was just a friendly touch. Roger was a physical person. But now every touch, even if it was only brushing of arms had him on edge and felt like he was doing something wrong.

So, when Roger entered the auditorium that night, he had decided he would ask Freddie about it. He was feeling pretty pathetic about it, but he was only human. Freddie was already sitting behind the piano, playing something, he didn’t hear before. Brian wasn’t there yet, probably still in the library working on some paper on the cosmos, or whatever he was doing there. John hadn’t arrived either.

Freddie heard him come in, halting his playing for a minute “hi Rog,”

Roger dropped himself on the sofa and pulled out his pack of smokes to lit one. “Hey Fred, what are you playing.” He asked while breathing out a cloud of smoke.

“Just a little something I wrote last night, just having a bit of fun really, not sure if it has potential.” Turning around on the piano stool with dramatic effect, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning his chin on his hands.

“Sounds good, I think you should continue with it.”

Freddie smiled, “maybe I will.”

Roger hesitated, he didn’t want to make it seem like he wasn’t able to hold himself to this bet, but things were different now. He actually liked someone, it wasn’t just for a casual shag, but how could he let Fred know that without telling him he actually liked a guy, their bass player none the less.

He didn’t need to bring up the topic himself, because Freddie was all too curious to ask about it himself. “so, are you frustrated already Rog?” he asked smirking.

Roger groaned, “I’m doing fine.” He lied. “But I do want to discuss terms.”

Freddie laughed, “what do you mean, what’s there to discuss?”

Roger could feel his face heat up, he could feel his temper trying to get the better of him already.

He could hear the annoyance in his voice when he spoke, “can’t we just leave snogging off the list?” _ugh, why did he sound so needy?_

Freddie had a big smirk on his face, “whatever the hell for, dear?”

This was what Roger was afraid of, he had to come up with an explanation. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Okay, I uh, well I met someone,” he said looking at his feet, “and I really want to, well you know?! Have the option to…” well anything is better than not doing anything.” He said with a groan, rubbing his face.

Freddie looked at him in disbelief, “absence makes the heart grow fonder, Rog. This all just sounds like a way for you to get out of the bet, and it’s not working. I don’t believe you.”

Roger frowned at Freddie, his cigarette between his lips, “what, I’m serious,” he mumbled “I even had a date with hi- ahhh… them…” _smooth Roger, very smooth._

“A date? _You_ had a date? And when was this supposed date?” Freddie asked, eyeing him with a suspicious look on his face.

“Saturday,” it was out before he could stop himself. He wanted to strangle himself.

“Saturday?” Freddie repeated, “weren’t you supposed to meet up with John on Saturday?”

“Before I met with John,” even he could hear that wasn’t convincing, but it was all he could say to try and save himself out of this.

Freddie had a teasing smile on his face, for some reason he knew he wasn’t going to help him out on this. He loved it way too much that Roger was suffering like this.

“I think this bet is good for you, you obviously have a problem,” Freddie teased. “and a deal is a deal, the bet is still on, no sexual activities till the end of next week, and that also includes snogging.”  

“Why do you care so much, you don’t even get anything out of it, and if I win you have to load in my kit, you hate doing any hard work?!” he grumbled.

Freddie laughed, “who says I don’t get anything out of it, I’m enjoying myself very much right now. And you are of course welcome to do whatever you want, but that also means loading in your kit yourself.”

Roger put out his cigarette bud with a lot more force than needed, “fine!” walking toward his drumkit and starting an aggressive beat.

 

 

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What Roger didn’t know was that John was standing outside the door and had been listening to the last part of their conversation. He couldn’t help but laugh, that bet was ridiculous, maybe that’s why Roger held back Saturday night.

After their talk a few days ago, John had the time to think about everything that happened since he met Roger. It was good that he didn’t see him for a few days, it gave him perspective and he realised he had been more than just interested in him.  

This realisation scared him, they hadn’t even known each other for that long. That couldn’t be normal. But he also couldn’t stop thinking about him now that everything seemed to be out and in the open between them. He wouldn’t mind if things moved a little further than them just talking and flirting. But when he heard them talking about the bet, he wasn’t sure that Roger would make the first move, considering how stubborn he was and didn’t want to give in first.

Maybe he could give Roger a little incentive? He thought about it, John wasn’t usually the one that made the first move, even with girls. With a guy was a whole different story, it made him restless just thinking about it. But this bet gave him idea’s, he felt like he could play with this a little. If he was being honest, teasing Roger was fun, just because of the way he reacted, and he must be very frustrated by now.  

He decided he wouldn’t let Roger know he knew about this and test out how far he could go, before he snapped. So, when he opened the door, he saw an annoyed Roger bashing away at his drums and an amused Freddie looking at him.

“Oh, hi John, how are you doing? Don’t mind Roger, he gets like this when things don’t go his way.” waving his hand in a dramatic way, grin on his face.

“Hi Freddie,”

Roger stopped his drumming momentarily when he noticed John, half smile on his face. He snorted turning his attention back to Freddie “Oi, pot?” he called “meet kettle.” And he lit another cigarette, before going back to his drumming, the cigarette hanging on his lips. He winked at John.

John could feel his face heat up and turned his face with a smile, getting his bass out of its case. By doing that he missed Roger’s little chuckle seeming rather pleased with John’s reaction.

Freddie laughed “whatever do you mean dear? I don’t need to have any temper tantrums, because I always get my way.”

Roger didn’t respond, just rolled his eyes, probably knowing Freddie was trying to get a rise out of him. John smiled at their interaction, he liked how they could just joke around with each other and not get annoyed to the point of where it became an actual argument.

“What are you talking about then?” John asked, trying to sound clueless.

Freddie was about to respond opening his mouth, but Roger was ahead of him. “Nothing! He said a bit too quickly.”

John laughed internally, he watched Roger with amusement. Roger seemed to pick up on it, because he smiled awkwardly. Freddie just seemed very confused by Roger's reaction, probably wondering why Roger didn’t try to explain to John, he must have thought Roger had a good reason for it.

“It’s nothing important.” Roger said more calmly this time.

“Okay.” John said with smile, he could feel Roger’s gaze on him, but he didn’t look at him, afraid he would give himself away about how much he actually knew.

He couldn’t let himself think about it any longer, because Brian entered the room and after that, they finally had their first band practise together. John was surprised how good they sounded together, of course there was way more room for improvement, he wasn’t easily satisfied. But for not having played together before, it felt as though they had been playing together for a lot longer. It also surprised him that he and Roger seemed to work with each other really well. Just a simple lock of eyes was enough to figure out what the other one wanted.

Roger also wasn’t afraid to let his gaze rest on John a little longer than strictly necessary, smirking when John seemed to pick up on it and turned his gaze away from him, when he couldn’t keep his mind on playing a particular bassline that needed his focus. Whenever John got a little into it and lost himself to the beat, he would dance around. He didn’t even notice himself to much. Roger however seemed to notice and was just staring at him from behind his drumkit, with a surprised smile.

After band practise, Roger collapsed on the sofa. “I’m knackered.”

“So that’s a no on going out with me?” Freddie asked.

“Where do you get the energy Fred, I really can’t be arsed tonight.” Roger said, threading his fingers through his hair.

“Fair enough, how about you Deaky?”

John looked up, “I think I’m going to pass tonight Fred, next time?” out of the corner of his eye he could see Roger observing him with curious eyes. Wondering what other plans John might have.

Freddie laughed, “I’ll hold you to it.” And turned to Brian, “you can’t let me down Bri, you are my last hope.”

It seemed like Brian had been afraid of that, because he had already put on his jacket and packed his things. “I’m sure you’ll be fine on your own, I have a lot of work tomorrow.”

Roger snickered, “you are such a nerd.”

Brian rolled his eyes, not really acknowledging what Roger said, he was also used to it, “Sorry, Fred another time.” he was already at the door. “Have a good night everyone.”

“Night,” Roger called after him.

Freddie also got his jacket and walked towards the door, “fine, I see how it is.” he said teasingly. “see you later then.” And closing the door behind him.

John was packing his things, but startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to meet Roger’s eyes, he looked nervous. “Sorry,” taking his hand away. “Do you want to have a drink at my place?”

“Oh yeah sure, that sounds good.”

 

 

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John looked around Roger’s one bedroom apartment. There was a small seating area that had a sofa and a big chair, a coffee table and a small tv. The kitchen was visible from the living area and was small as well. It also had a little bar, were you could sit at. He could see the door to his bedroom that was open just a crack, but not far enough for him to peek inside.

He could feel Roger’s gaze on him and when he turned to face him, he was met with a soft smile and blue eyes that watched him curiously. He could feel a flutter in his stomach. Roger turned to open the fridge and peered in it “so I don’t have a lot to drink, its either vodka or beer.”

John thought about it, he could use a little liquid courage. He was even more tense now that he was in Roger’s apartment. “I’ll have a vodka.”

“Going straight to the stronger stuff then? That’s fine with me.” Roger said with a grin.         

Once John had a few drinks, he could feel himself relax. The nervous feelings he had before were now vanished and he could feel himself become giddy. He looked at Roger, listening to him talk, but not really hearing what he was saying. His hair was messy, and his eyes were bright, John really wanted to touch his hair. They were sitting on his sofa, Roger had pulled John’s legs on his lap, his back now resting against the arm of the sofa, Roger was absentmindedly tracing lines on his leg, John could feel a shudder run down his spine.

He didn’t notice Roger calling his name, because he had been staring at Roger’s fingers, moving over his leg.

“John?”

He looked up, Roger watched with a smile, but also seemed worried.

“Sorry, what?”

“If this is making you uncomfortable, I can stop?”

“What?” He didn’t want him to stop, “no, I’m not uncomfortable.” and John could feel his heart quickening by saying that.

“Really? because you got silent there for a second, so I figured y……” before he could finish his sentence John’s hand was touching his jaw, tracing his fingers along over the slight stubble that was there.

John shifted, pulled his legs off Roger’s lap and put one on the sofa and tugged one under the other, so he was facing Roger, who also shifted towards him a little, still surprised as to what he was up to. John's fingers moved softly over his neck, towards the back to rest at the nape of his neck, where he softly pulled on the ends of the hair there.

He smiled, Roger seemed to have lost the function to speak, John heard him sigh softly and he seemed to relax into the touch. “I’m not,” John moved closer to whisper in his ear. “are you?”

He could practically feel Roger shudder, when John's breath hit his ear. John didn’t anticipate what happened next though, because he made surprised sound, when Roger pulled him on his lap, so that he was now straddling him, Rogers’s hands on his waist holding him firmly in place.

Roger smiled, eyes fixed on his, “where is this coming from?”

John felt his face heating up, he hadn’t thought this through, “I can stop if you want?” trying to move away from Roger, but he could feel Roger’s hands on his waist pulling him closer.

“No, I like where this is going.” Roger smirked.

John chuckled, “do you now?” moving his hand to brush a lock of hair out of Roger’s face. Moving closer to Roger, the alcohol was making him a lot more confident, giving him the courage he needed. Moving his hands over Roger’s arms, resting at his shoulders to steady himself. Roger’s hands made their way to the hem of his shirt, John gasped when he felt one slipping underneath, Roger's hands tickling his skin.

“yes, I’m intrigued.”  

He moved his lips towards Roger’s neck, but not actually touching it, and moved to his ear again, he could hear Roger softly groan in frustration “I did hear a little something interesting about you though.” Moving back to look him the eyes again, they seemed a lot darker now.

Roger’s hand that was that previously touching his back was now gripping the back of his neck, softly pulling him in. They were so close, he could feel Roger’s breath on his lips.

“Really? And what was that?”

Their lips were almost touching, his heart was beating fast, “I heard you can’t kiss me, because of a little bet you made.” He said pulling back a little so he could look at Roger’s reaction.

Roger seemed surprised, “how do you know about that?”

“I heard you and Fred talking about it tonight.”

He grinned at him, “so you decided to see, how long it would take before I snapped?”

“That was the plan, yes.” Tracing his fingers along his shoulders. “worried?”  

Roger smiled “pleasantly surprised.” He moved closer to John again, his hand still on the back of his neck pulling him in again. “you’re doing a good job.”

John didn’t expect Roger to continue, but he felt himself lean in again, resting his hands against Roger’s chest, his lips were now an inch away, they almost touched.

“What about the bet?” John asked breathlessly

“Fuck the bet,” Roger whispered

Then their lips touched.

 

  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading <3 sorry about the cliffhanger!
> 
> Please note that English isn't my first language, so mistakes might pop up somewhere.
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	5. You lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John makes Roger lose the bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for leaving you all hanging for so long, but I had a little case of writers block, and also hardly any time to finish this chapter. I really appreciate all the sweet comments and kudos! so thank you <3 I hope this makes up for the long wait. I really hope you enjoy, and once again let me know what you think. 
> 
> Thanks chaosdarlingchaos, for helping me get rid of my writers block and giving me idea's for the next chapter. <3

 

 

**Chapter Five: You lose**

 

His mind was racing a thousand miles an hour, he was kissing John. But more importantly he was kissing him back. The kiss was slow and sweet, it was different, not something he ever experienced before, but good. John’s lips were soft and the touch of his lips against Roger's gentle. He heard himself gasp when John’s hands made their way into his hair and pulled softly. He moved his own hand that was still on the back of John’s neck to his jaw over his shoulder and down his side and under his shirt, softly stroking his back.

John gasped softly against his lips giving Roger the opportunity to deepen the kiss, testing how far he could go, he licked at John’s bottom lip and was pleased to feel John's lips part against his. The kiss grew heated from there, his hand still resting on John’s waist, moved to his hip gripping him a bit more tightly, with his other hand he pulled him closer.

When John shifted his weight, Roger lets out a low growl against his lips, he could feel John smile against him. Breaking apart he ghosted his lips over John’s jaw, over his neck, softly leaving a trail of kisses on his neck to just below his ear. “Is this okay?” he whispered.

Not waiting for his response, he continued leaving kisses on all the skin he could find. John nodded, letting out a gasp that turned into a mewl, making Roger smirk against his skin. John slightly tilted his head, giving Roger more room, his eyes now closed. While Roger continued to kiss and nuzzle his neck his hands found Roger’s hair again, moving down, softly grazing the back of his neck with his nails making Roger shudder.

He kissed John again, a bit hungrier this time and without thinking about it he switched their positions, pushing him down on the sofa. Now hovering over him, he looked at John, he couldn’t believe this was happening right now. John's face a lovely shade of pink, his grey-green eyes fixed on Roger's blue ones, watching him with a smile. He pulled Roger closer by his shirt to kiss him again softly this time.  

“I think I just made you lose that silly bet.” He said against his lips, still a bit breathless.

Roger pulled back with a chuckle, “totally worth it.” He moved down to kiss and make love bites down the side of John's neck, leaving a visible mark on his neck. John hissed when his teeth grazed his collarbone. Roger moved up again nuzzling in the crook of his neck, making him sigh softly.

“Was this just about me losing the bet, or can we make this a regular thing?” he asked, lips still against John's neck. 

Roger was afraid to look at John, even though they couldn’t keep their hands of each other, he was still nervous about the whole thing. It was hard for him to figure out what John was thinking in normal circumstances, this just made it harder on a whole different level. He felt like an idiot for asking, but he needed the reassurance.

“No, it wasn’t about you losing the bet, but I do have to admit it was fun seeing you struggle, I thought you would last longer though.” John teased.

He now looked up at John, Roger grinned at him. “Cheeky, aren’t you?”

John chuckled “I have my moments, and if you must know, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing this again.”

Roger smiled, his heart skipped a beat after hearing John say that, he leaned in to steal another kiss. He felt John’s hands make their way down his back, to rest on his waist pulling him closer again. He gasped when John’s lips moved to his neck, leaving marks and kisses, moving to his jaw and back to his lips for a short kiss. Roger didn’t want to stop, he was completely lost and didn’t know how to come back from it.       

John pulled back a little, pulling himself up and resting on his elbows, looking a bit unsure “How is this going to work? Do we tell the others?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care if they know though” watching John with questioning eyes, “do you?”

He shrugged, “I suppose not.”

Roger moved back to sit on the sofa, feeling that John was still a bit hesitant about the situation. “They are my mates, they wouldn’t be weird about it, we don’t have to tell them right away, I mean, they will find out when they will find out.”

John smiled “I guess you’re right.”

“I always am.” Roger said with a smirk

John rolled his eyes “I highly doubt that.”

“Hey, that hurts!”

John stuck out his tongue, when Roger made a face at him. “I’m sure you’ll live, I should really be going tough.” He got up from the sofa.

Roger grabbed him by the wrist softly, looking at him with questioning eyes “wait, where to?”

“Home?”

“What do you mean home?”

“You know that place where I live, I have to go back there eventually.”  

“Ha- ha” he said sounding sarcastic, “you can just…, its late you can stay here.”

John seemed to think about what Roger just said, he didn’t say anything. He caught John's eyes darting towards his bedroom door and back to look at where Roger was still holding his wrist. He could feel John hesitate, making himself feel less sure of himself, thinking it was too soon to ask this of him. So, when John spoke, he spoke at the same time.

“Uhm, sure.”

“I mean you don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to,”

John grinned, “so you want me to stay or not?”

Roger laughed, “I do.”

He smiled “okay so I’ll take the sofa this time then.” Nodding at the much smaller sofa, than the one in John’s apartment.

Roger got up and pulled John with him towards his bedroom “don’t be daft, my bed is big enough for the both of us.”

John protested a bit, saying he was fine on the sofa a small blush now covering his cheeks. But he let Roger pull him with him anyway. “You better not get any funny ideas.”

“You don’t think I already had those before this.” Roger smirked.

John snickered “why am I not surprised anymore?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be good.” He winked at John and started rummaging through his closet, but paused to look over his shoulder “unless, you ask me otherwise.”

John laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He sat down on the bed while Roger kept going through his closet.

“Let me find you something to sleep in.”

Eventually he found a shirt for John to sleep in, thinking it was probably his size. They didn’t seem to differ in size very much. John still looked a bit nervous about the sleeping situation, picking at the sleeves of his shirt. Roger couldn’t say he wasn’t nervous himself. He slept with friends in the same bed before, but this was different, and John knew that too.

“Here you go,” handing John the shirt.

“Thanks.”

Roger went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and to give John time to get ready, he didn’t want to make it seem he was taking a peek, even though he was curious. He watched himself in the mirror, his hair was messy, and his lips were still a little red and swollen. He smiled when he thought about what happened not even 10 minutes ago. Then his eyes spotted a particular noticeable mark on his neck. He touched the mark with his fingers, “sneaky little…” he muttered under his breath, but he was still smiling. He stripped down to his boxers and threw his clothes in the corner.

When he entered his room again, John was just pulling the shirt over his head. Roger could just see the pale skin of his back when he pulled it down. He was now only in his boxers and Roger’s shirt and Roger itched to touch him again. He dropped himself on the bed, signalling John the bathroom was free. He put his hands behind his neck waiting for John, when he came back, he couldn’t help but stare at him. The shirt Roger gave him was still a bit loose on him, his hair was messy, he was rocking back and forth on his heels, pulling at the hem of his shirt, looking a bit unsure about what to do next. He looked endearing to say the least.    

He spotted Roger staring at him, he bit his bottom lip absently “what?” trying to avoid Roger’s gaze when he walked towards the bed and slipped under the duvet. He turned on his side to look at Roger with questioning eyes, his head resting on the pillow.

Roger also got under the duvet and rolled on his side, pushing himself up on one elbow, his head resting on his hand, he smiled at him. “Nothing,” he brushed a lock of hair out John's face, letting his fingers trail over his cheekbone.

“We both know that’s not true.” John chuckled.

Roger sighed, he let his head rest on the pillow and shifted closer to John, hesitating before dropping his arm around his waist. “I just like having you here is all.”

He could feel John shiver, but he still moved closer to Roger, leaning into his touch. He softly traced his fingers over Roger’s shoulder. “I see.” The soft smile that touched the corner of his lips didn’t escape Roger. 

They were silent for a bit, Roger listened to John’s quiet breathing, he was already falling asleep and Roger wasn’t far behind, feeling content in the warmth that radiated off John’s body next to him. When he felt himself slip away, he heard John softly calling him.

“Rog?”

He opened his eyes, “hmm?”

John let his hand rest on his chest, in the dark he could see still John’s gentle eyes look at him.

“Will you… will you kiss me again?”

Roger lips found John’s before he could think about it, he could feel John sigh softly and melt against him. His arm on John’s waist pulling him even closer, the other cupping his cheek, softly caressing his thumb over his cheekbone. The kiss was soft and gentle, but it made Roger’s heart race. When they broke apart John moved closer and nuzzled Roger’s neck, and not long after they both dozed off.

 

 

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John woke up early in the morning, his mind was fuzzy, and he felt warm. He could feel Roger pressed up against his back, his arm lazily around his waist, holding him close. He smiled to himself, never had he expected any of this when he decided to audition for the band. After last night he could no longer deny to himself that he was absolutely smitten with Roger. This fact also made him very tense, he was never good with feelings, or mostly expressing them. That he had feelings for his bandmate, made things extra complicated.

Roger on the other hand made everything so easy, he could make him laugh without fail and he didn’t make things difficult. He just said whatever was on his mind, which he appreciated, but also awkward at times. Even though Roger said they would figure out how they would tell the others, John still worried about it. He didn’t even know them very well yet, he had spent most his time with Roger. What would they think about this whole situation.

He checked the clock that hung on Roger’s wall, he had an early class this morning and he really needed to run by his place to take a shower, get a change of clothes and his stuff for class. He peeked over his shoulder, Roger was still fast asleep, he looked very calm, his breath tickling John’s neck. It was now almost seven and he really should get going if he wanted to be on time, considering he had to walk back first.

John tried to wriggle himself out of Roger’s hold, without waking him. When John moved he felt Roger stir, he cursed under his breath. It didn’t seem like Roger was going to let him go any time soon, even in his sleep he was persistent he thought. He gently tried to pry Roger’s hand from his waist, he cringed and halted his movements when he heard Roger softly groan.  

“I know better ways of waking me up.” He said in a raspy voice leaving a kiss on John’s shoulder.

John bit his lip feeling bad for waking him up, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you, I have an early class, so I wanted to let you sleep.”

“Fuck class.”

He snorted and turned around to face Roger, “some of us care about our education.”

Roger smiled at him, he still looked sleepy. “Hi.”

“Hi,” John said returning his smile.

Roger was about to lean in, when John pulled back with a teasing smile, “you are not kissing me with that morning breath.”

Roger squinted his eyes at him, but still smiled. “again, with the cheekiness!” but I’ll be happy to brush my teeth for you, if that means I get to kiss you again.” He then proceeded to get out of bed.

John laughed and pulled him back by his shoulder, “I’m just taking the piss.”

He gasped in surprise when Roger rolled himself on top of him, entangling their legs and holding himself up on his elbows, pinning John down on the mattress. “Is that so?”

Now that John was sober, he found himself tense up again, being this close made him worried about everything he did. He was still getting used to the fact that Roger wasn’t afraid to touch him at all. He wished he had some of his confidence and didn’t had to think everything through.

He shifted under Roger, not sure where to look, feeling a bit trapped under his gaze, afraid that he would see right through him. Even though John knew he was good at hiding his feelings and thoughts; being this close to him made things problematic and he doubted Roger didn’t pick up on it.

Roger was nice enough to not comment on it, because he leaned down and brushed his lips against John's neck, while one of his hands stroked his side, which made him shiver. John’s hands automatically made their way to Roger’s back. He felt the tension leave his body under Roger’s touch.

Roger made his way to his ear, hot breath tickling his skin and whispered, “let me know when you want me to stop.”

Roger waited for John’s reaction, John nodded. He then moved his lips over his jaw and their lips touched again, and almost immediately their mouths opened against each other. Roger’s hand rode up his shirt and roamed his skin where he could reach it, leaving his skin feeling scorched where Roger touched him. John decided the shirt was in the way and started pulling it up, Roger moved back to help him pull it over his head and tossed it on the floor.  

John gasped when Roger’s lips touched his chest, leaving kisses and marks everywhere, making it harder for John to keep breathing. Roger kissed his way back up to his lips and they kept kissing, until John tipped his head back with a low moan when Roger suddenly softly grinded his hips down into his. When he did it again, John moved up his own hips to meet his, making Roger softly groan against his shoulder.

He buried his face in Roger’s neck and softly bit down to stifle another moan, making Roger hiss. His hands gripping John’s hips, when John moved his blunt nails down his back. They kissed again, a bit sloppy this time, still rocking against each other. In the back of his mind he knew he had to stop this before it was too late, but his mind was hazy and part of him didn’t want to stop, but when Roger ghosted his lips over his collarbone, he decided to listen to the still clear part of his brain.

“Rog?” He panted.

Roger moved to peck him on the lips, “yes?” he answered equally out of breath, his eyes seemed darker than before.

He stared at Roger and hesitated before saying “I really have to go, or I’ll be late.”

Roger let out a groan, “do you have to?”

“Yes.”

Roger chuckled when John let out a little whine, when he moved against him in a teasingly slow way. “Are you sure?”

John bit his shoulder in revenge, softly mind, but still getting his point across.

Roger chuckled, giving him another peck, and rolled of him and went sit back against the headboard of his bed. He reached for his pack of smokes that lay on his night stand and lit one. Watching John as he got up and tried to find his clothes. He felt his eyes on him and when he turned around, he was right, Roger watched him with the cigarette hanging from his lips.

“Could you be more obvious?”

“What?” Roger laughed acting all innocent.

“You know what I mean” John said turning around again while he pulled up his jeans.

Roger smirked “hmm, I can’t help it that you have a good bum.” He said while blowing out smoke, letting his eyes roam over John.

John snorted sarcastically, “how sweet,” but he still blushed at the comment. Still not used to Roger being so forward, he didn’t think he would ever get used to it. When he got dressed completely, he quickly disappeared into the bathroom.

When he returned, Roger wasn’t in the bedroom anymore, so he stepped into the living, where Roger was making coffee, his back facing him. He was also dressed now. John leaned on the kitchen counter, watching him.

“You want some coffee or tea?” Roger asked.

“Thanks, but I really should go, I need a change of clothes and get my things.”

“Okay,” Roger turned around, sipping his coffee. “well I think me, Fred and Brian are probably going to meet at the pub tonight, you should come. We probably need to discuss band stuff as well.”

John nodded “sure, sounds like a plan.”

Roger walked him towards the door, where John got his jacket. He could feel Roger's hesitation, before he spoke again. “About what happened, before? It was okay? I didn’t make you uncomfortable right? I know I can get a bit carried away,” he had a concerned look on his face.

John smiled, he was somehow a bit relieved that Roger also got nervous about this. “Yes, it was okay, and I wasn’t uncomfortable, I would tell you if I was, and I don’t think you heard me complaining?”

“No, you didn’t,” he grinned, “but if I did, you would tell me, right?”

John tilted his head, wondering what he was getting at. “Yes? I would.”

Roger looked relieved, “good, because… uhm I really like you and I don’t want to mess this up, whatever _this_ is.”

John smiled, “I really like you too.”

Roger softly kissed him once more before he opened the door to let him out. “I’ll see you tonight.”

John nodded. “See you then.”

When he walked away, John could hear the door close when he turned the corner. It was almost 8:00 a.m. He had to rush to get his things and be in class on time. He sighed, he was a bit worried about meeting with Freddie and Brian tonight. Roger had said he didn’t mind them knowing, but he wondered how they would feel about this. For what it was worth Roger was right, they would find out eventually, probably sooner rather than later. He smiled to himself, Roger wasn’t very good at being subtle and they definitely weren’t just friends anymore.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3 
> 
> Please note that English isn't my first language, so mistakes might pop up somewhere. 
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	6. Game Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet up at the pub and Freddie finds out Roger lost their bet.
> 
>  
> 
> “Rog, what’s that?” pointing at his neck, smile on his face. 
> 
> Roger gave him a confused look “what?” 
> 
> Brian and John also seemed confused and followed Freddie’s finger. But they couldn’t quite see what Freddie was talking about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! once again I'm sorry this took me so long again to update! Hope this will make up for it though and I hope that you like it. I didn't think I was going to make it past the chapter 5 mark with this one, but hey here we are. I really appreciate all the kudos and comments! thank you! <3 I really love hearing what you think <3 
> 
> Special thanks to my chaosdarlingchaos, for being so patient with me, your like my supportive little sister by now <3

 

**Chapter Six: Game Over**

 

 

Roger made his way to the pub that night, it was freezing outside. The few trees along the sidewalk had frost on them and the icy wind whipped at his face. He put his hands deep into his pockets and continued to walk quickly. His apartment was a bit further away from the pub and the busier side of town. He didn’t have any classes today, and studying had been the last thing on his mind. It was no surprise that his mind had only been on what happened last night and this morning with John.

Moving things slow was new for Roger, normally when he would hit on a girl, he knew what he wanted. They usually did as well, it was just give and take. He wasn’t ashamed of that, he was young, he could enjoy it. But never had he be this infatuated with anyone before. He never felt the urge to call them again or meet up again. Of course he had his share of ‘girlfriends’ but never had it been really serious.

He couldn’t quite figure out what John thought about all of this, he did say he liked him as well, and he also seemed to like what happened. They both didn’t really know what they were doing, it’s not like he had ever been in a situation like this before. He didn’t really have much to go on. But John had been responsive enough, so he must have been doing something right. The little sounds he had made were still lingering in his ears.

When he stepped inside the pub, it was warm, and he could feel his shoulders relax. His muscles had been tensed from the cold. It was busy, much busier than usual. He could see a band setting up their equipment. It had been a while since they played a gig, between bass players. He remembered how much he hated the last one, he could play alright but what a wanker. He was probably being biased, but he felt like John was the missing piece they really needed.

He tried to see if he could spot Brian, Freddie or John, but it seemed like he was early. He didn’t think he’d see the day when he would be earlier than Brian. He decided to get a drink, and wait for people to leave their seats, so he could sit while he was waiting for the others. There was a group of girls, that moved out of their booth to stand near where the band was setting up. He acted quickly, before anyone could really see and slipped into the curved booth.       

From his place he couldn’t see the door, so when he felt a hand on his shoulder he startled. He looked up to meet John’s amused eyes. “hey” he smiled, and he slipped next to him, their legs touching.

Roger cleared his throat, “hi.” just a little touch like that had him on fire, and after this morning it seemed to have become even worse. He looked around him to see if anyone was watching them, they were sitting more in the back of the room, but still there were enough people around them. He did think he could risk it though.

He put his hand on John’s thigh and softly stroked it up and down, John jumped a little and quickly looked around if nobody had noticed, and then fixed his eyes on Roger’s. “Rog, you can’t do that here.” He whispered, but Roger could see the amusement in his eyes.

Roger smiled and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “fine, but can you do me a favour?” he pulled back to look at John, who looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Depends on the favour?”

He leaned in again, but he was interrupted before he could ask John.

“What are you boys whispering about?”

It was Freddie, Roger quickly pulled his hand that was still resting on John’s thigh back and looked at Freddie, who was giving both of them a suspicious look.

Roger winked “wouldn’t you like to know.”

Freddie laughed, “you know me darling, I will find out eventually.”

Roger chuckled and lit a cigarette and turned his head to blow out the smoke, “I know Fred, but this a secret between me and John.”

He knew it would make Freddie go crazy if he felt like he was out of the loop. He was right because Freddie immediately turned to John, leaning close to him over the table, taking his hand.

“Deaky will tell me, right Deaky?”

John seemed happy that Freddie didn’t comment on how close they had been sitting. He chuckled “I don’t kiss and tell, Freddie.”

Freddie sighed dramatically “I see how it is, Roger already got to you and you are both conspiring against me.”

John wasn’t used yet to Freddie’s more theatrical behaviour, because at first, he stared at him wide eyed, but when he saw Freddie’s smile, he got that he was joking.

Roger just shrugged while blowing out another puff of smoke “can’t help it if I’m charming.”

The little snigger that escaped John wasn’t missed by Roger, who was equally amused by his reaction.

Freddie opened his mouth to give a Freddie like retort, but it seemed like he forgot what he was going to say when Brian appeared.

“Took you long enough!” Roger called, a bit loud because the band had started playing.

“I’ll apologize, once you two can manage to be on time twice in a row.” Brian said while pointing at him and Freddie.

Roger and Freddie shared a look of mutual amusement, “seems fair.” Freddie shrugged.

Brian looked at the band that had just started playing. “Are they new?” pointing at them. 

Brian had a habit of seeing most bands that played in the same venues as them as competition. Seeing how they hadn’t played a gig for a while, he was already scared they had forgotten about them. Roger wasn’t worried, this band was mediocre at best. He knew Queen had something special. They just needed their big break, and mostly money, so they could make a demo. But first they needed to start playing gigs with the four of them.

“I think so, I haven’t seen them.” Roger said while pressing out his cigarette in the ashtray. “They sound like shit!”

Brian didn’t seem convinced, “we should ask if we can play here again, soon.”

“Don’t worry Bri, we have John now, so we can start doing gigs again.” Freddie said.

“I guess you’re right.”

John seemed somewhat nervous about that idea, but he didn’t say anything. It was in these situations where John was quiet and reserved and didn’t speak his mind. Roger guessed he just needed some time to feel safe around the others.

He drummed his fingers on the table, “make it happen, I’m dying to play again.”

Brian nodded, “I’ll make some calls tomorrow.”

“Great,” Roger turned towards John “scoot over Deaky, I’m going to get drinks.”

When Roger walked past John, he let his hand drag down his back, making sure Freddie and Brian didn’t notice, making him jump in surprise. Roger chuckled, he would never get tired of this.

 

 

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When he came back, he had a tray of beers with him. When he went to sit down again Freddie looked at him funny.

“Rog, what’s that?” pointing at his neck, smile on his face.

Roger gave him a confused look “what?”   

Brian and John also seemed confused and followed Freddie’s finger. But they couldn’t quite see what Freddie was talking about.

Freddie’s grin got wider “you lost the bet!”

Roger flinched, “what, I didn’t!” he tried to act innocent because he honestly didn’t know how Freddie could know.

“Seriously, you are going to lie about it?” Freddie said in disbelief, but grin still plastered on his face. “don’t be a sore loser, it’s not a good look on you.”

Roger felt himself get annoyed, Freddie knew just what buttons to push. But this time he really couldn’t let his temper get the better of him, he just really hated losing.  

He let out a dramatic sigh, “fuck sake, how do you know?!”

Freddie then pointed to his neck, “you have a fucking hickey right there!”

Roger hand shot up to his neck, he completely forgot about the hickey.

Brian burst out laughing and John choked on his drink, who has just taken a sip of his beer, coughing quietly. John didn’t look at Freddie and tried to hide the blush that was covering his face behind his hair. Roger looked at him, he could see he was trying to hide his laugh. _Bastard._

He should have made a better effort of covering it up, maybe he could have fooled Freddie, that he was still going strong, even though that he knew that would be pretty silly. He would eventually let him know he fucked up, but Roger would have liked to let Freddie believe he could keep it up a little longer. But he was fucked now, and John was just very pleased with himself. He was still softly coughing.

“You okay there Deaky?” Freddie asked.

“F-fine, just need a sec,” he said between coughs, taking another sip to try and hide his smirk.

“See! even John is disappointed in you.”

Roger narrowed his eyes at John, and he stared back at him with a mischievous smile on his face.

“I bet he is.” He replied a little sarcastically, not breaking eye contact with John.

John gave him a little kick under the table, to make sure he didn’t say anything else that could give them away.

Freddie gave them a funny look, picking up on their silent communication but didn’t comment on it.

“It did take you longer than I expected, I’ll give you that,” Brian said when he was finally done laughing.

Roger groaned and rested his head on the table, “bloody hell, fine, you win Fred!”

Freddie was still grinning like an idiot, he patted Roger’s head. “Don’t tell me you actually thought you stood a chance, and you didn’t really lose anything.”

“Just my dignity," he whined dramatically, "besides it would have been nice if my mates actually had some faith in me.”

Freddie laughed at that, “I have faith in _you!_ Your dick is the problem here.”

“Oi! lots of people beg to differ!” Roger smirked

Brian rolled his eyes “who even gave you that hickey?”

Roger looked up, he should have known one of them was going to ask that question. But he really didn’t know how to respond. Brian probably wouldn’t be satisfied with ‘oh you don’t know them’ and the fact that he did know John, was not the point right now. He couldn’t say some girl, because John was right there, and he didn’t think John would be really pleased with him if he said that. But he also didn’t think they were ready to tell what happened, because he himself wasn’t ready yet. He could feel John shift next to him, obviously feeling the same way.

So, he gave the most suitable response he could come up with and hoped that Brian wouldn’t ask any more questions. “oh, uhm… someone I met the other week,” it was true, he did meet John the week before, so practically he wasn’t lying. John looked at him with what looked like relief. “And it was just snogging, so technically it’s not even that bad.”

Freddie let out a snort “you keep telling yourself that darling.”

Roger let out an annoyed growl “can we just drop this now? I’m so over it.”

“I bet you were…, all over them.” Brian said adding oil to the fire.

“Brian!”

“What? It’s true!”

“Watch it, or you can walk to the next gig!”

Brian rolled his eyes, “don’t be a big baby!”

“I’m not!”

Freddie and John watched them continue their bickering in amusement, enjoying it far too much. It only got worse when Roger started throwing peanuts at Brian, and Brian threatened to dump his beer over him if he didn’t stop, with John already taking cover for any potential beer showers. Freddie was dodging peanuts, because he was in the line of fire and couldn’t stop laughing.

“Now boys, be nice” Freddie said still laughing “or John will change his mind about playing with us.”

John scooted over to Roger, “I was just about to go actually.”

The three of them all stared at him wide eyed, his face completely straight. Roger was actually worried now, he couldn’t be serious.

He let out a small chuckle, “I’m just taking the piss.”

Roger felt relief wash over him, he was almost sure John was joking, but he was still having trouble reading him, so he was never really sure what he was thinking. He nudged his shoulder with a nervous laugh, “don’t scare us like that!”

John turned to Roger and grinned, “won’t do it again, cross my heart, but I do actually have to take a piss, so can you move over Rog?”

Roger got out to let him pass and watched him disappear in the crowd.

Freddie laughed and clapped his hands, “I like him!”

Brian couldn’t help but smile as well, silently agreeing.

Roger really wanted to follow him, but he figured it would be weird to go in there after him, like a bunch of girls that couldn’t pee without their friends holding their hand. But he really wanted to be alone with him for a bit and this was probably his only chance.

He looked at the bar, it was pretty crowded, so it would take a while to get drinks, if he pretended to get drinks now, they wouldn’t find it weird if he took some time. “I’m going to get another round.”

Without waiting for their response, he made his way to the bar, only to check over his shoulder if they were watching him. Brian and Freddie were talking, and weren’t paying attention to him, so he quickly made his way to the bathrooms.

 

 

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When Roger was there, he knew he didn’t think this through, it was very busy tonight, of course he wasn’t going to be alone. There weren’t a lot of people, but there were still a few leaning against the wall talking, trying to get away from the busier part of the pub. There was also some couple snogging in the back. He felt a bit weird, but he was just going inside the bathroom. It’s not like they knew what he was going to do, Roger just had this nagging feeling of people watching him.

When he entered the room, he felt relieved that there wasn’t anyone in there. He didn’t want to call out to John because he didn’t know if there were other people in the stalls. He couldn’t see, but he didn’t have to because John just opened the door. He didn’t have time to act surprised, because Roger had already crowded him back into the stall.

“Roger!” wha…. He was cut off by Roger’s index finger against his lips.

“Shhh.”

John stared at him in surprise and whispered, “what are you doing?”

He rested his hands on John’s waist, pulling him closer “not sure, this seemed like a good idea.”

John laughed softly, “and is it?”

“Haven’t decided, but I got you alone, didn’t I?”

John raised an eyebrow “smooth.”

Roger softly backed John up against the wall in the narrow stall, it was anything but aesthetically pleasing in there. “I try.”

A small sigh escaped John’s lips when Roger put his hand up to John’s neck, his thumb softly stroking the sensitive skin. His lips were already slightly parted when Roger leaned it to kiss him slowly. John moved his hand towards the back of Roger’s neck and up to let his fingers tangle in his hair. Roger pressed himself closer to John, who’s other hand was now resting on his waist.

Roger broke the kiss and moved to press kisses over his jaw and just below his ear, while stroking John’s side, “been waiting to do this the whole night.”

John let out a soft laugh, “waiting to kiss me in this very tiny toilet stall?”

“Yes, kissing in grimy pub toilets is like my thing.” he joked.

“Anything else I need to know about?”

“I’m sure you’ll find out,” Roger said pecking him on the lips twice.

John smiled and looked down to cover his blush, he fisted his hand in Roger’s shirt “you mentioned a favour before?”

“Oh yeah, I did, didn’t I?” It had slipped his mind, with all the grief the others had given him after they learned he lost the bet. He contemplated if he should ask John now, he was afraid he was moving too fast. John looked at him with expecting eyes.

“Uhm,” he hesitated before speaking, avoiding John’s gaze, “I wanted to ask you to stay over at my place tonight? I mean don’t feel obligated or anything, it’s fine if you don’t want too.”

John tilted his head and smiled at him, “sure, why wouldn’t I want to? I slept in your bed last night.”

Roger let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and lifted his eyes to look at John who was looking at him with a soft expression. “I know, but I don’t want you to think that I just want to…. well in lack of a better term… get in your trousers.” He closed his eyes in embarrassment because of how silly that sounded.

John laughed quietly “I know that.” He put his hand on Roger’s shoulder and traced his fingers down his arm “It’s fine Rog, don’t worry,”

“I just mean, I’m good with moving things slow.”

“Me too.”

Roger smiled at that and had to resist to kiss him again.

“Can we stop by my place first though? So, I can get a few things.” John asked

“Of course!” Roger had trouble hiding his excitement, tomorrow was a Saturday, so his mind was already coming up with plans to spend the day with John, he still wanted to get to know him better and felt like he only scratched the surface of what he knew about him.

John smiled and turned around to open the door, “we should go back though, because right now I’m taking the longest piss in history.”   

Roger couldn’t help but laugh, he had to cover his mouth to muffle the sound, because he still wasn’t quite sure if they were alone. John peeked around the door to find that there still wasn’t anyone there, so they slipped out quickly.

When they made their way back, John went back to Brian and Freddie while Roger went to the bar, that was now much less crowded and he could get drinks quickly. The rest of the night went by pretty quickly and they had fun talking to each other and making plans for the band, making a new schedule for when they would practise, being sure they would make it. When John told the rest he was going home, Roger offered to walk him home. John obviously took him up on that offer. Roger was so distracted by John that he completely missed Freddie watching them the rest of the night, hiding his smile for them to see.

They walked by John’s apartment to get his things, making sure to be quiet seeing John’s roommates were now at home. Roger wasn’t doing a very good job when he was trying to help John and he hit his head against a bookshelf and cursed out rather loudly. Making John laugh and shushing him at the same time. He quickly got his bag and stuffed it with everything he needed and pulled Roger along with him to quietly lock the door behind him again.

When they finally made it back to Roger’s apartment it was already late, and Roger was exhausted and just wanted to pull John with him in bed to cuddle and sleep. So, he did just that, but before he could John protested that he first needed to brush his teeth, so Roger reluctantly let him go and changed into his sleepshirt before joining him in the bathroom to brush his own teeth. When they were finally done and John also changed, they slipped in Roger’s bed. Roger switched off the light and the soft lighting from the streetlight outside illuminated the room with a soft orange light.

John scooted closer to his side, nuzzling his neck and resting his hand on his chest. His warm breath tickling Roger’s skin. Roger looked at John who was already dozing off and planted a kiss on his temple, not missing the small smile that tugged on his lips. For the second time in a row he felt content having John lying next to him, listening to his quiet breathing before dozing off himself.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone <3 let me know what you think.


	7. Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get distracted, some unwanted, some wanted distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this time. (I sound like a broken record). Hope you like this chapter though. Let me know what you think <3\. I really appreciate all the comments and kudos so far, they are all so sweet, Im glad you all seem to be enjoying it. Thanks for the support. <3
> 
> Special thanks to chaosdarlingchaos, who keeps putting up with me <3
> 
> Warning: Last part rated E, so if you don't like you can skip it :3

 

**Chapter Seven: Distractions**

 

 

 

“Are you even playing attention?”

Brian was standing in front of his drumkit, annoyance clear in his face. Roger couldn’t blame him for being annoyed, it wasn’t the first time he missed a beat that practise. And it wasn’t like him at all, his beat was always precise to a fault. They were practising because that weekend they had their first gig with the four of them, Queen was now finally complete. Roger was beyond excited but getting very nervous, because at the moment he couldn’t keep a beat if his life depended on it.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, I’m playing like shit.” he said giving Brian an apologetic look.

Brian sighed, “you seem out of it, you have been going off beat in almost all of the songs.”

“I told you I was sorry, okay! I just need a break.”

He briskly stood up from his seat and walked past Freddie and John who both stared at him in surprise. He didn’t look at them and walked towards the door and down the stairs, and before he knew it, he was outside. It was a nice day, sunny but still cold. He shivered, realising he forgot his coat. He went to sit at one of the picnic tables and sat on the table, his feet on the seat. He patted his pockets for his smokes, which were of course still in his coat.

Roger was just mad at himself, he knew exactly why he was missing beats and just playing like a five year old. John was a distraction to say the least, dancing and making eye contact with him to figure out if they were in sync and silently deciding the rhythm. The eye contact was the least of his problems, when he started dancing was when he started missing beats. Quiet and shy Deaky was a completely different man when he got in the rhythm, and Roger was completely focussed on him, clearly forgetting a drummer actually had to hit his drums.

They had been spending a lot of time together the last three weeks, learning more about one another and just hanging out. He found out John loved tinkering with electronics, they spend a whole day at Roger’s apartment with John fixing his tv, which gave out on him the day before, but no money to buy a new one. He had watched him work in concentration, offering him drinks and even went out to get food for the two of them. Roger was even more captivated by him, when he watched in anticipation if all his hard work had paid off and smiling proudly when the tv finally came back to life.

He had learned about John’s family and friends. John told him he had been in a band before Queen. He first started playing guitar but switched to bass when the bass player decided to leave the band. John turned out to be a quick learner and stuck with bass since then. He could still play guitar, but he preferred to be part of the rhythm section. Roger was enamoured by all of John’s little manners when he played the bass, how he moved to the beat, tapping his feet and licking his fingers before starting another riff. But all of that made Roger forget how to play, and it was scary how much effect he seemed to have on him.

While he was deep in thought, he didn’t notice Freddie coming up to him. He only noticed when he sat next to him on the picnic table and held up his pack of smokes for him. Roger turned his head and saw a worried Freddie staring back at him. He took one and let Freddie lit it for him.

“Thanks.”

Freddie nodded, being silent for a little bit before asking Roger the question he knew was coming. “Now are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Roger sighed and blew smoke up towards the sky. He knew he could never lie to Freddie, but he and John didn’t decide if and when they were going to tell the others. They also didn’t talk about what their relationship really was, none of them had actually said they were together, both waiting for the other one to bring it up.

They didn’t have sex yet, it hadn’t gone further than the occasional hand job, both of them worried to make the next move whenever they were making out, and obviously there had been a lot of that. They both were still content with moving things slow.

What he really had been worrying about was that he had to tell Freddie and Brian he had feelings for another guy, and he was dreading it. Not because of his feelings for John, but afraid of the reaction from his friends, even though he knew in the back of his mind they wouldn’t treat him any differently.

“Whatever it is Rog, you know you can tell me.” He said when an answer didn’t come

Roger turned to Freddie and smiled. “I know.”

But he didn’t tell him what was bothering him, it wasn’t something he felt like he couldn’t say without talking to John about it. It wouldn’t feel right, so he kept it to himself. They stayed silent for a while, Freddie could always feel what Roger needed, and he would never press him if he didn’t want to tell him, because Freddie knew he would come to him eventually when he was ready.

“Can I ask you a question Fred?”

“Of course.”

Roger shifted on the table and opened his mouth but closed it again. He turned his gaze away from Freddie and stared at the ground, “did you ever think another guy was attractive?” he asked softly, feeling his face heating up.

Freddie chuckled, “darling, have you checked any mirrors lately?”

Roger looked up at Freddie and rolled his eyes, “I’m serious.”

“I know, I was too, I have eyes..., but to answer your question, yes I do think some men are attractive.”

Roger could feel himself relax a little hearing Freddie say that, but the next question had him tense up again.

“Does this have anything to do with John?”

“What, no…!?” He said trying to sound casual and keep a straight face.

Freddie softly elbowed him and chuckled “you have a lot of great qualities dear, subtlety isn’t one of them.”

Roger flicked his cigarette bud away and stood up and threw his arms open, “okay fine, you got me, now go ahead make fun of me, ha-ha Roger likes boys, its fucking hilarious!”

“I wasn’t going to, you know me better than that.” Freddie said looking a bit hurt.

Roger noticed Freddie’s expression, and immediately felt like a dick. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just don’t know how to deal with this, with other people knowing.”

Freddie tilted his head “why do you care what other people think? You never seemed to care before.”

He snorted and kicked a pebble away “that’s different.”

“Why is it different?” Freddie asked calmly, “because you happen to like another guy?” “So, what, it’s your business.”

“No, not because I like a guy, it’s because… god!” He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes “I feel like screaming, it’s just, I don’t usually do this you know, I'm not good at it!”

Freddie raised his eyebrows, confusion all over his face, “not good at what? you got to help me out here Rog.”

Roger sighed, he knew he couldn’t get out of it and really, he didn’t want to, if he wanted to tell anyone it was Freddie and Brian. “I don’t just ‘like’ John,” hesitating before he continued “I have feelings for him.” he turned around not looking at Freddie, still worried he would laugh in his face. 

He felt Freddie’s hand on his shoulder, softly turning him around to face him. Roger still stared at his feet, determined to not look Freddie in the eye. “So?”

Roger jerked his head up in surprise, “so?... That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it.” He assured him, “now stop acting like an idiot and let’s get back to practise.” he said while pushing him back towards the building.  

Roger smiled, reminding himself how special Freddie really was and how lucky he was to call him his friend.

Freddie paused before going inside, “wait a minute,” and he turned around to grin at Roger, “the date you had a few weeks ago, you acting weird since the moment John auditioned, the hickey!” It was as if Freddie connected all the dots in that moment.

Roger couldn’t help but laugh and pushed Freddie inside, “yeah, yeah, I thought we were going back to practise?!”

Freddie laughed and walked towards the music room, “really? He gave you the hickey?”

Roger walked past him shaking his head in amusement, he opened the door and stepped inside, “My lips are sealed, but are you really surprised?” he called over his shoulder.

“Now that I think about it…, no… no not really.” He chuckled, watching John from the corner of his eye.

John and Brian looked at them in confusion, wondering what they were talking about. John was tuning his bass, when they locked eyes, John smiled at him softly, but he could still see worry linger in his eyes. He reminded himself to apologize later.

 

 

  

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John tried to concentrate on his textbook, exams coming up soon and he was definitely not prepared. He wasn’t making much progress at the moment either, with Roger’s head resting on his lap, watching tv, while he tried to study. Roger was tracing his fingers over his thigh, making it hard for him to think about anything but Roger’s hands on his leg.

He was _again_ at Roger’s apartment, wondering why he still payed rent. He still went back to his own apartment but not because he really wanted to, but his roommates frequently asked him where he was, if he maybe had a girlfriend. John laughed it off by saying he crashed at one of his bandmate’s places a lot of the time, which wasn’t actually lying, but still it wasn’t the exact truth.

The truth made him nervous, because he really didn’t know what the truth was. They were together all the time, it was hard to deny they weren’t dating. Neither one of them brought up the subject, but he could feel it pressing down on him more and more. Especially when Roger had acted strangely yesterday at practise, he had been wanting to ask him about it, but he didn’t know how, and he was dreading it. He worried it had something to do with him.

John liked to have some reassurance, because this was driving him mad, not knowing if they were on the same page. He sighed and closed his textbook, putting it down next to him. He knew it was hopeless, so he figured he would try again later.

Roger turned his head towards him and stared up at him and smiled, “done already?”

He started threading his fingers through Roger’s hair, “can’t concentrate.” He replied.

“My fault?” he asked, smiling apologetically.

John grinned, “sort of.”

Roger pushed himself up at bit to give John a quick kiss “sorry.” he pouted playfully and moved to sit against the arm of the sofa pulling his knees up to his chest.

“That’s okay, I’ll just do it later.” he said smiling.

They were silent for a bit, whenever John got nervous, he had a habit of keeping his hands busy, be it picking at his sleeves or twiddling his fingers. He just needed to do something to relieve his anxiety. But if he didn’t bring up his worries now, he didn’t know when he would have the guts to do it again.

“Rog?”

“Hmm?” he hummed before tearing his teared his eyes away from the tv, a cigarette hanging between his lips.

John took a big breath, “I been meaning to ask you…, yesterday…, at practise what happened? you seemed upset?” he asked, while he kept staring at his fingers.

Roger sighed and pressed out his cigarette in the ashtray that stood on the coffee table.

He didn’t give Roger time to answer, he started rambling at his hands, everything that had passed his mind coming out at that moment, his insecurities getting the better of him. “Did it have something to do with me? Did I do something to upset you? Because you and Freddie stayed away for a while, and I figured you and him got to talking. I know we haven’t talked about us, and it making me nervous, because I don’t know what we really are, and…”

“Hey,” Roger said softly, he reached out and touched John’s jaw, turning his face towards him gently, “you did nothing wrong.” Rogers eyes were determined. “If anything, it had something to do with me being an idiot.”

“What do you mean?”

“Freddie found out about me liking you, apparently I’m not that subtle,” he said sarcastically “don’t worry, I haven’t told him everything.” He explained when John opened his mouth to reply.

“John, yesterday at practise I wasn’t myself, because I was so fucking distracted by you, and I got annoyed when Brian got on my case about it. But I also couldn’t get upset at him because he doesn’t know.

John smiled a little “sorry, I distracted you.”

Roger laughed at that and shifted closer to him, tugging his leg under the other, putting his hand on John’s thigh. “believe me, I don’t mind,” he said with a wink, “and I’m sorry for being an idiot yesterday.”

“We all have bad days.” John shrugged.

“I guess,” he smiled, “but what I’m trying to say is, I want to tell Freddie and Brian about us, as long as you want that too.”

“I do…,but what are we going to tell them? We haven’t even discussed it ourselves.” He said, while he started picking at his sleeves again. “Are we… uhm together?”

Roger chuckled, the hand on John’s face moving down to rest at his neck, “I know I’m not man of many words, but I think I made it pretty clear how I feel about you.” He shifted even closer, so that John could feel his breath on his skin. “But I think we are together, at least if you want to?”

John looked up at Roger and saw insecurity in his eyes, the always so confident Roger looked very vulnerable right now. John smiled “I do,” and pulled him towards him by his shirt and kissed him gently, reassuring him.

When they broke apart, Roger rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “okay enough with the serious talk, want to watch a movie or something?”

John smiled, “I think I’m going to study a bit in the bedroom, if that’s okay?”

“Afraid I’m going to distract you again?” Roger said teasingly.

“I know you will,” John sniggered.

Roger stuck out his tongue, “can’t help myself.”

John laughed, “well I won’t pass my exams if you keep distracting me,” he got up and brushed his fingers over Rogers leg, he picked up his textbook and made his way to the bedroom.

“Fine, don’t worry about me, I’ll just be here, alone!” Roger called dramatically.

“I’m sure you’ll manage!” John called from the bedroom.

John got on the bed, he pushed himself against the headboard of the bed, opening his book where he left off before. He could hear the tv from where he was sitting. He smiled to himself feeling relieved from the talk he had with Roger, he was a still a bit nervous about talking to Brian and Freddie, but he knew it would be okay.

 

 

 

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 Roger stretched his arms above his head and yawned, he turned off the tv and glanced at the door. John hadn’t come back again, and it was getting pretty late, he got up and softly opened the bedroom door slowly, John was still sitting there deep in concentration, scanning over his book and taking notes, biting at the end of the pen. He glanced up when Roger peaked around the door, his eyes lighting up.

He smiled at him closed his book that lay on his lap. “movie over?”

“Mhm.” It took a few seconds for Roger to realize he was staring at John. He looked lovely in the light of the small bed side lamp.

John tilted his head when he noticed Roger watching him, “are you just going to stand there?”

Roger laughed, “weren’t you studying?” he asked while he got on the bed next to him. “I don’t want to distract you again.” he teased.

He shifted closer to Roger, pushing his books away, climbing on Roger’s lap, straddling his thighs. “Maybe I could use a little distraction?” he whispered, placing a kiss just below his ear.

“Is that so?” he chuckled, smoothing his hands down John’s side, to rest at his waist holding him into place.

John nodded “unless you don’t want to?” tracing his hand down his chest.  

Roger smiled and moved his hand to grip the back of his neck softly, pulling him in and kissing him slowly. He could feel John smile against him as he pressed closer, his fingers tangling in Roger’s hair. The kiss became more frantic and Roger’s hands found the hem of John’s shirt, pushing it up. John pulled away to help him pull the shirt over his head and tossing it behind him.

He let out quiet little sounds of pleasure when Roger left soft kisses down his neck, over his collarbone and down his sternum. Roger then switched their positions and pressed John down on the mattress, hovering over him, “am I distracting you already?” he asked, pressing a few kisses on his shoulder, moving down to graze his teeth over his collarbone.  

John hummed in response while he bit his bottom lip, when Roger pushed his legs apart with his knee to settle between them and pressing close to him. He felt John’s hands move to his back and pull up his shirt, signalling him it was in the way. He made quick work of it and enjoyed the feeling of John’s skin touching his. John kissed his shoulder and made his way up to his lips again.

They kissed for a while and not long after they were stripped down to their boxers. John moaned against Roger’s lips when he rocked his hips against his, his blunt nails scratching his back. Roger pulled away to catch his breath and moved to his neck, moving up to his ear. “I want to try something,” he whispered and looked back at John “will you let me?”

John nodded, his face was covered in faint blush, his eyes were gleaming, and his hair was a mess. Roger thought he looked stunning. “you’re beautiful.” He said while he brushed some hair out of his face.

“Are you getting sentimental on me?” he teased, his cheeks flushed deeper after Roger’s comment.

He chuckled, “I have many different sides love.”

John laughed softly which turned into a whimper when Roger started running one of his hands up and down his thigh while he started kissing John’s chest, softly grazing a nipple with his teeth.

Roger squeezed John’s thigh softly and moved his hand to palm his erection through his boxers. John breath hitched and his eyelids fluttered closed. Roger hooked his fingers on the waistline of his boxers, he paused and scanned John’s face for any sign of discomfort. This wasn’t anything they hadn’t done before, but they hadn’t moved past the occasional hand job.

He felt like a schoolboy again, trying to figure out how everything worked. Up to this point he didn’t think he did a bad job, John was usually very responsive and from the sounds he made he gathered he was doing something right. That didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous as hell, seeing how he didn’t have much to go on. But he made it his goal to get good at it, making John feel good his biggest motivation.

John lifted his hips off the mattress when Roger pulled his boxers down, helping him to get them off. Quickly getting his own off as well, settling back down between John’s legs. He then reached for his night stand, John eyes following his movements.

“What are you up to?” John asked looking curious when Roger got the lube from his drawer and put some on one hand.

Roger kissed him again, smiling against his lips, “you’ll see.”

John opened his mouth to reply but made a surprise sound that was somewhere between a squeak and a moan, when Roger moved his hand down between them and wrapped his hand on both of their erections. Roger let out a soft groan when John rolled his hips up in response.

Roger started a gentle rhythm, enjoying the sounds John was making. Roger let his forehead drop against John shoulder when he started rocking his hips in time with the pace of Roger’s hand, making Roger moan into his shoulder.

He moved his lips against John’s neck, “does it feel good?” he asked, rocking his own hips forward in time with John.

John let out a breathy moan. “Yes… please keep going.”

He chuckled, not needing any more encouragement, revelling in the sounds John made, making him eager to keep going, but he also felt himself not lasting much longer, especially when John grinded his hips up in a more frantic way.

John moved his hands to Rogers hips, pulling him even closer, making Roger groan against his lips when he dragged him into a sloppy kiss. Roger tightened the grip of his hand and increased the pace. They kept rocking their hips in time and when John bit down softly on Roger’s shoulder to stifle a loud moan, Roger came with shudder, his breath hitching.

When he came down from his own orgasm, trying to get his breathing under control, John was still squirming beneath him, watching him while he was biting down on his bottom lip. His face was flushed, and his hair was sticking against his forehead.

Roger leaned down to kiss him and wrapped his hand around his erection again. John whimpered against his lips, breaking the kiss, he closed his eyes and turned his head against the pillow. Roger dragged his lips over his neck up to just below his ear. “You make the most lovely sounds.” he whispered in a husky voice while he kept stroking him until John came as well holding on to Roger’s arms, letting out a stuttering moan.

John panted softly while Roger stroked him through his climax, Roger rolled of him afterwards and cleaned his hand with a tissue. He then laid on his side, elbow propped up under his head smiling while John was still catching his breath.

“How are you doing?” he asked with a grin.

John looked at him with a smile, “perfectly distracted.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3
> 
> Let me know what you think! I like reading your comments.


	8. Just friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally official when Brian finds out and Roger and John enjoy their time together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I have to apologise again for taking this long. I have been having the busiest weeks ever, so no time to update this any sooner. So thanks everyone for baring with me. I greatly appreciate all the support on this story <3 I love all the comments and kudos. 
> 
> That also brings me to tell you that this is going to be the last chapter. I had so much fun writing this one, and I'm sad its now over. But I feel this is the right time to end it. I never intended for it to be this long ;p. I really wanted this story to stay light and fluffy, I'll bring on the angst and complications for another one xD I really loved the feedback you guys gave me and it motivated me to write more about these sweet boys <3
> 
> With all of that said, I hope you enjoy the final chapter of this, I struggle with endings, so I hope it's good enough. I would still love to hear what you think, so let me know.
> 
> Thanks chaosdarlingchaos for sticking with me all this time, you were a great help. Thank you for being my beta <3

**Chapter Eight: Just Friends?**

 

 

 

John had trouble to suppress a chuckle when Brian walked in the dressing room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw John sitting on the sofa, with Roger standing behind him his arms wrapped loosely around his neck, who had just been whispering his not so innocent thoughts in in his ear, which had John blushing a deep shade of pink.

John tapped Roger’s hand, to get his attention, he didn’t seem to hear Brian come in. “Uhm Roger.” he said quietly.

“What, don’t tell me you’re feeling shy?” he teased.

Brian’s mouth opened and John could have sworn all emotions crossed his face at one point. He didn’t expect Brian to find out like this, but it was hilarious all the same. When Brian cleared his throat, Roger startled and looked up and saw Brian staring back at him in confusion and amusement at the same time.

He slowly let go of John and rubbed the back of his own neck awkwardly. “Oh, hey Bri, have you been standing there long?” He asked sheepishly.

John looked up and squinted his eyes at him, _really Roger?_ he thought.

“Long enough.” Brian grinned.

John didn’t know what to say, he tried to keep himself from picking at the sleeves of the satin shirt Freddie made him wear, he obviously did not have any say in his outfit choice, because it was the furthest thing from what he would normally wear.

Brian was still looking at them with amusement. He didn’t think he and Roger needed to come up with an explanation for what was happening, because it was rather obvious from the position, they had been in when he came in, that they weren’t discussing the five o clock news.

Before he and Roger could come up with an explanation of what was going on, Brian asked the question, because he obviously could put two and two together.  

“So… you two?” he asked while he waved his hand between the two of them, “how long has this been going on?”

“Uhm… yes,” Roger walked towards Brian, “like a week after we met, we’d been meaning to tell you, but we were just figuring things out, and…” Roger began to explain, but he seemed to come up short and stared at his feet.  

John watched Roger who seemed nervous about telling one of his best friends about them, and he felt like he had to help him out, or at least say something. He stood up, “I’m sorry you had to find out like this Brian.” He said softly.

Brian looked between the two of them and smiled, “don’t be ridiculous you two, why are you acting like I would be upset?”

John looked at Roger, who let out a breath of relief. He understood why Roger was so anxious about telling Brian, they were best friends. He would be devastated if Brian reacted any differently. It was not really about them not telling him before, but for Roger it was also because he had feelings for another guy. He was afraid Brian would reject him because of it. He didn’t know Brian very well yet, but he was smart and kind and cared a lot about his friends. For some reason he had already known he wouldn’t respond in a bad way.

“I don’t know, because we kept it from you? Roger said, “because of me not telling you I like a guy?” he added in a much smaller voice.

Brian put a step forward and gave Roger a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “as long as you’re happy mate, that’s all I care about.”

“Thanks Brian.” Roger said and he dropped himself on the sofa, fingers drumming on his thighs.

Brian nodded and gave John a smile. He sat down crossed legged on a chair and started tuning his guitar. John felt relieved with Brian’s reaction and was glad they got it out of the way. He got his bass and started tuning it as well, getting more anxious now about the gig, still annoyed about his outfit, he really needed to talk to Freddie about it.  

Brian looked at Roger, smirk on his face, “oh and one more thing.”

Roger eyed him suspiciously, “what?”

“Now that we are going to play more gigs, there might be a chance we are going to play at places farther away.” He explained while he continued tuning his guitar. “So that means we might have to share hotel rooms.”

“Yes?” Roger said, dragging out the word.

John wondered where Brian was getting at, but from his expression he had a feeling what, what was coming and looking at Roger it seemed like he did too, because he was warning Brian with his eyes.  

“As long as I don’t hear any shagging, we are all good.”

“Brian!”

John coughed and felt his face heat up. Roger looked at him and gave him a wink before focussing his attention on Brian.

“You might learn a thing or two.” he said throwing a pillow at Brian, which Brian threw right back at him with a laugh.

“I think I’m good.”

John couldn’t help but laugh along and felt himself relax.

 

 

   

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“No Freddie, I’m not going to wear this again!”

“But you look so good in it Deaky!”

John looked at himself in the mirror, a disbelieving expression looking back at him. He thought he looked absolutely ridiculous, he was wearing a satin shirt that looked like a dress, it being too big for him and also way too long. The satin he was okay with, as long as he still looked like a guy in it. The eyeliner Freddie had put on him already bordering on what he was comfortable with.

John scoffed, “I look like a girl!”

Freddie looked at him in the mirror and giggled, “a pretty one though.”

“Freddie!” John groaned while he squinted his eyes at him in the mirror.

Freddie turned around, his hand on his hip and redirected his attention to Roger, hoping he could persuade John to wear what he picked out for him. “Rog! please tell your boyfriend, he looks good enough to eat.”

John just stared at him wide eyed, mouth open in shock, even though he wasn’t really shocked anymore after getting to know Freddie a lot better these past few months. This also meant that John felt more comfortable about speaking his mind about how he looked, and he definitely didn’t like how he looked right now. 

Roger had been flipping through a magazine, a cigarette between his lips, chuckling at the bickering between John and Freddie. He blew up smoke towards the ceiling, “he always looks good enough to eat.” he replied while winking at John.

Freddie rolled his eyes at Roger, “typical, of course you would say that.”

John could feel his cheeks heat up but looked at Roger pleadingly to help him out here. Roger seemed to understand his non-verbal communication, because he nodded at him.

“Just let him wear what he wants Fred, he’s obviously not comfortable in it.”

Freddie looked at John again, he was pouting, reluctant to give in, he wasn’t used to not getting his way, but in the end, he did give in. “Fine.”

John smiled at him, “thank you Freddie,” and pulled the horrible piece of clothing over his head. “don’t worry I’ll still come to you for advice.”

“You better darling.” He said with a smile while he started applying his eyeliner.

Now John had to figure out what to wear, seeing how his bandmates attire was quite out there, he didn’t think the simple shirt he had been wearing would do. Roger had gone back to flipping through the magazine and peeked over the top to look at John figuring out what to do with the wardrobe situation. John eyes flicked over to him, as he felt he was being watched. Roger eyes stared back at his. He figured he could ask Roger if he could borrow something from him, seeing how he usually had multiple things with him.

“Rog?”

Roger lowered the magazine, he obviously wasn’t reading. “Yes love?”

“Can I borrow a shirt from you, I don’t actually have something else with me,” he said feeling a bit awkward because he was unprepared.

“Sure,” he responded and got his bag to find his other pieces of clothing.

He passed him two silk shirts, one being way to floral and bright for John’s tastes, obviously it being lovely on Roger, but he wasn’t feeling that confident yet. The other one was a black button up, which suited him much more and didn’t make him feel like he was in the spotlight. So, naturally he picked that one.

“Thanks.”

“So, you don’t want me to dress you, but you do want to wear Roger’s clothes,” Freddie teased.

“Jealous?” Roger teased back.

Freddie rolled his eyes, “hardly, I’m going to find Brian, at least he appreciates me,” he said while he stuck out his tongue.

John laughed, “sorry Freddie.”

Freddie dramatically opened the door and turned around the back of his hand on his forehead, “I need some time.” He smiled before he closed the door.

“What a drama queen.” Roger grinned.

John chuckled and put on Roger’s shirt, “he is something,” he agreed.

He was about to button up his shirt, when Roger placed his hands on his and started doing it for him. He looked up to meet his blue eyes that were looking at him with adoration. He smiled, “I can do that myself you know,” but he let Roger continue what he was doing.

“I know.” He replied

Before he buttoned up the last button, he leaned it to kiss John gently, one of his hands moving from his shirt to rest on his neck. John melted into the kiss, pressing closer to Roger, his hands resting on his shoulders. When they broke apart Roger smiled and buttoned up the last button.

“It looks good on you,” he said

John turned around and looked at himself in the mirror, it wasn’t something he would usually wear, but still he wasn’t to upset with his own reflection.

Roger wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned his chin on John’s shoulder, “don’t get too used to it.” 

John looked at him in the mirror with a confused expression, “meaning?”

“Because I’ll be taking it off you again tonight,” he said while he placed a few kisses on his neck before he let him go.

“You are terrible,” John said, and turned around and pressed a kiss on Roger’s lips.

Brian turned up and peeked his head around the door, he looked impatient, “is it too much to ask for you two to keep your hands of each other long enough, so we can play this gig?” he asked, sarcasm apparent in his voice.

“You sound tense Bri,” Roger grinned, “something up?”

Brian rolled his eyes at him, “yes, we have a gig and the rhythm section is missing.”

John tried to suppress a chuckle and got his bass, “sorry Brian, we’re coming,” and he followed Brian to the stage.

“Thank you, John, at least one of you is serious.”

Roger followed them through the hallway, “hey! I resent that!”

He then quietly added, so that Brian wouldn’t hear, “he probably needs a good shag.”

John laughed softly but put his hand over his mouth when Brian spoke up.

“I heard that!”

Roger and John shared an amused look and Roger shrugged while they followed Brian on stage.

 

 

 

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They stumbled through John’s doorway, hands pulling on clothing and lips moving against each other. They found their way to John’s apartment, because it had been closest from the pub. John didn’t bother to turn on the light, closing the door behind him with his foot, while he kept kissing Roger. He eagerly returned the kiss, while he felt himself being backed up into John’s apartment.

Roger liked when John got like this, being confident and taking the lead, when they first got together it happened on rare occasions, but these days it happened more and more, and Roger wasn’t complaining, he liked their little battle for control. Roger groaned softly when John tugged on his bottom lip with his teeth, backing him further into the room. Before he could kiss John again, he lost his balance.  

“Wait, fuck!”

In the dark John had backed Roger into the armchair, which Roger didn’t know was there. Even during the day, he had poor eyesight, in the dark it was ten times as bad. Resulting in him tumbling over the arm of it.

“What happened?” John asked sounding confused, walking back to the doorway and trying to find the light switch in the dark.

When he finally found it and flicked it on, he started laughing when he saw Roger. Roger had collapsed in the chair, his legs dangling over the arm, struggling to get himself up again.

“I’m glad you find this amusing.” He said, but he couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Shhh, my roommates.” John said trying not to laugh too loud.

“Remind me again why we didn’t go to my apartment?”

“Because you didn’t have enough patience to walk the extra block and look where it got you.” He whispered and chuckled softly, when he stood in front of Roger who was now getting himself up and sitting in a normal way.  

“Fair enough.”

“Well, I guess we should go to bed.” John said with mischievous smile and turned around.

Roger grabbed him by the wrist and turned him around towards him, John’s legs bumping into his knees. “Where do you think you’re going?”

John smiled innocently and placed his knee on the chair between Roger’s legs. “bed.”

“Is that so?” he asked, pulling John closer by his waist, pressing a kiss to his lips.

He felt John smile against his lips, Roger found himself chasing his lips when he broke the kiss way too early for his liking. John smiled and softly brushed his lips over his ear, “you coming?”

Roger didn’t need to be asked twice and let himself be pulled out of the chair by John, towards his bedroom. It was safe to say they weren't getting much sleep that night.   

 

 

 

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“Rog, where are we going?” John asked.

“I told you it’s a surprise, you are so impatient,” Roger chuckled, while he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

John rolled his eyes at him and stuck out his tongue before he continued watching out of the passenger window of Roger’s van, bobbing his head to the beat of the music that was playing.

They had been together for six months and Roger had wanted to do something nice. He usually wasn’t the person for tradition, being together for half a year usually wasn’t something that people would celebrate, but to him it had significance, he wanted to show John how much he meant to him. He wasn’t a hopeless romantic and it was convenient that John wasn’t either, but he still wanted to make a special day out of it.

He would never tell John, but he was fucking nervous about this whole day. He even asked Freddie if he wasn’t acting like a twat, wondering if John would find it silly. Freddie was absolutely thrilled, practically bouncing up and down when he told him his plans. His exact words being, “its fucking fabulous darling, didn’t know you had it in you.” Roger couldn’t argue with that, because before John he had never planned anything like this.

John and him never really had a real dating period, everything sort of happened. There was this mutual attraction between them, and it all came natural. He sometimes wondered what would have happened if he didn’t act on his feelings, would they find their way to each other regardless, or would they be just friends?

He watched John out of the corner of his eye, he was tapping his hand on his leg and silently mouthing the words to the song playing. He didn’t like to sing in front of Roger, always saying he felt intimidated because he has such a beautiful voice, so Roger never pushed him to sing, knowing he felt awkward about it.

Roger laid his hand over John’s, lacing their fingers together. He could have sworn he felt his heart swell, when John softly squeezed his hand, and looked at him with a soft smile that touched his gentle eyes. _God he was so in love with him._  

When Roger took the next turn up a quiet road, John looked out of the window curiously again, wondering where he was taking him. Trees lined up the long road, on both sides of the road there were more trees, stretching out into a forest. The weather was beautiful, the summer sun was shining, but it wasn’t too hot. It was late in the afternoon. Roger’s heart started beating quicker when he saw the open spot he had been looking for.

John looked out of the front window when Roger pulled the van up into the open spot. An open field let to a wooden pier that was set on a large lake surrounded by trees and shrubs. The sun was shining on the water, making it sparkle.

Roger watched John nervously, trying to read his expression to figure out what he was thinking. “so, here we are.” He said trying to break the silence.

“This looks lovely,” John said looking at Roger with a smile.

Roger felt himself relax when he heard him say that and got out and went to get the bags he packed for that afternoon. John leaned against the side of the van and watched him take out his stuff.

“Are we going swimming?” he asked while he gazed at the lake.

“We can do whatever you want.” Roger replied while he put the bags down next to him.

John looked back at him with a soft expression, pulling him against him by his shirt, “really? what’s the occasion?”

Roger hesitated, feeling his face heat up, he bit his bottom lip, when John tilted his head while he waited for him to reply, “uhm, well… I don’t know if you have been keeping track, I mean it’s not that important, I mean you might not even care about it.

“You’re cute when you get flustered,” John chuckled.

John’s hand moved to the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss, his hand moved to tangle in his hair. One of Roger’s hand moved to cup John’s jaw, brushing his thumb over his cheekbone.

“You were saying?” John said a little breathlessly when they broke apart.

Roger shifted his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. “yes, well, I guess it’s been six months since we…”

“Got together?” John said, filling in his sentence, “I know.”

Roger smiled; he wasn’t actually surprised that John knew. “I guess I just wanted to do something fun for it, it’s not like we actually had a lot of dates, you know?”

John chuckled, “that’s true.”

“So, I thought we’d make a day out of it,” he shrugged.

John smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss, “that’s really thoughtful.”

“I have my moments.” He smiled back at him.

Roger set up a spot beneath a large tree, so they could sit in the shade. He brought a big blanket for them to sit on. He also brought food, he really wasn’t the best cook, so he settled for sandwiches, crisps, soda’s and a few beers.

John had already made his way to the pier; he had left his shoes at the spot they were sitting at. He had rolled up his jeans and dipped his feet in the water. Roger looked at him from where he was sitting, wondering what he was thinking about.

He kicked out his shoes and quickly stripped down to his boxers, he forgot to actually bring swim wear, but he didn’t really care. He then made his way to John who didn’t notice him come up, because he was still staring at the water in deep thought.

When he jumped in the water, he made a bigger splash than he intended to and getting water all over John. “Sorry!”

John laughed and got up, pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it on the pier. “You are so not sorry.” He called while he got his jeans off.

“No… no I’m really not,” he winked, “are you coming in or not?”

“Now who is the impatient one?” he said before he jumped in.

They stayed in the water for some time, just talking and enjoying the sun that was now starting to set. John wrapped his arms around Roger’s neck, kissing his cheek, then placing a kiss on the corner of his lips and then brushed his lips against his. Roger pulled John’s legs around his waist. They made out like that for a while, slow and sweet, both content with the fact that it wasn’t leading to anything else this time.  

“I think we should get out,” John said, while Roger nibbled on his ear, making him giggle.

“Yes, we should.” Roger said when he felt John shiver and pulled him along with him out of the water.

He threw John a towel, that he didn’t forget to bring. They sat down and wrapped the towels around them, to keep themselves warm. Roger leaned against the tree, pulling John against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. John leaned against him, his fingers tracing over Roger’s arm. They watched the sun set completely and sat there in comfortable silence for a while. Roger had been contemplating what he would say to John, before he beat him to it.

“Rog?” he turned his head to look up at him.  

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for today.”

“My pleasure love,” he said while he pressed his lips against John’s.

John hesitated before he continued and smiled gently, “I’m glad we didn’t become just friends.”

Roger smiled, “best decision I made in a long time.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again everyone for this reading this story and all the support <3\. I have plans on making this a series, because I don't know if I can let these boys go. I'm not sure yet, but something might be in the works :3


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